The Cyclones will strive to regain momentum in Saturday’s game against Oklahoma with a win.

“Any day we have a chance to win we’ve got to make sure we take care of business and not waste any of those opportunities,” said coach Christy Johnson.

Of the Cyclones’ four previous losses, two were against a couple of the top teams in the nation: No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Texas.

“It’s important to still get ourselves prepared, fired up and ready to go for a team that isn’t ranked in the 25, but is still a great team,” Johnson said.

Iowa State transitions from competing against two of the best offenses in the Big 12 to a team with a tough defense.

“They always play hard, they always play good defense and they’re always really aggressive,” Johnson said.

The Sooners (8-9) come into the game with a previous loss to Texas. The Cyclones (9-7) will come in after a loss to Missouri.

“It’s really important to capitalize on every opportunity you have,” Johnson said. “When you’re playing a team that you’re neck and neck with, it’s really important to win as many of those as you can.”

Last year against Oklahoma the Cyclones came out on top in the home match (3-1) but suffered a heartbreaker in Norman. Iowa State started off with a 2-1 lead but the Sooners came back to take the win in the fourth and fifth sets.

“They’ve become a team that really fights in battles,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter how much talent they have, if they’ve lost a lot of talent, if they have five seniors, it just doesn’t seem to matter with them.”

In Iowa State’s loss last year, the Sooners’ biggest threat was freshman Francie Ekwerekwu, who posted 15 kills and an attacking percentage of .333 against the Cyclones. The 5-foot-11 middle blocker leads the Sooners in kills this season. Despite the Sooners’ previous loss to Texas, Ekwerekwu still tallied 12 kills.

“For the second year in a row they’ve lost a lot of starters, but they seem to fight just as hard and it doesn’t really seem to be a factor for that team,” Johnson said.

In Iowa State’s last game, Rachel Hockaday, Victoria Henson and Jen Malcom all finished with double figures in kills against the Tigers. Hockaday led the team with 15 kills, and Malcom led in hitting percentage, with an average of .265. Although the Cyclones came up short, the team out blocked Missouri 12 to 5.

Iowa State will focus on adjusting to the defensive tactics Oklahoma has in order to get past their losses and come up with a victory. The Cyclones plan to regain confidence in an aggressive battle with the Sooners after struggling the past several games of the season.

“Fatigue sets in; sometimes mental fatigue,” Johnson said. “We just have to be mentally tough and fight through that.”