Since head coach Christy Johnson’s arrival, the Cyclone volleyball program has improved considerably and Johnson notched her 70th win in her career at Iowa State with the win over Missouri on Saturday.

Four of Johnson’s players are in the top ten in school history in career hitting percentages.

“She’s a great coach and brought great coaches with her,” senior middle blocker Jen Malcom said.

Not only has Johnson helped turn the team around, but assistant coach Dawn Sullivan plays a major role in the Cyclones’ success. Sullivan focuses on working with outside hitters and is one of the best players in Kansas State history. Sullivan was All-American and All-Big 12 player as a senior in 1999. 

In the four seasons Johnson has been at Iowa State, all four teams rank in the top 11 hitting percentages of school history.  

“I’m just trying to move the program forward and get as many wins as we can this second half,” Johnson said.

The consistency of freshman libero Ashley Mass allows junior setter Kaylee Manns to set up players well, as opposed to being forced to always set outside when receiving an off-target pass.  

“It does make a difference when you pass the ball right on the net so you can have three options,” Malcom said. “It benefits when we can go to four or five different hitters rather than one.”

With experience as an All-American setter at Nebraska, Johnson knows just how to coach a setter into putting up great sets for the hitters to be successful.

Johnson has emphasized the importance of passing in order to give the setter more options, resulting in the overwhelming success of the Cyclone offense.

“She’s brought the life back to Iowa State volleyball,” Malcom said.

“She put Iowa State volleyball back on the map.”

Historical hitting performance 

The 2008 ISU volleyball team (14-8) is on pace to be the most efficient hitting team in the program’s history.  

Prior to this year, the top hitting percentage in school history was the 1984 team with .231.

Currently, Iowa State holds a .255 hitting percentage this season.  

“We’ve taken a huge jump up there this year even from last year,” Johnson said.

Last year, at this point in the season, the Cyclones were 13-9 overall and hitting .218. 

In the Big 12 matches last season, Iowa State ended with a hitting percentage of .216, and this year the Cyclones are hitting better at .254 in conference play. With sophomore Victoria Henson on point this season the Cyclones are benefiting tremendously. Henson, at this point last year, was only hitting .134, while she is now hitting .256. 

“I think a lot of it is due to Victoria Henson’s hitting percentage,” Johnson said.

“She’s got to be one of the best outside hitters in the Big 12 in terms of hitting percentage,”

Henson holds the highest number of kills in four-set and five-set matches this year in the Big 12 with 27 and 30, respectively. Henson is third in the Big 12 in kills per set, averaging 4.07.   

Malcom also contributes to the Cyclone success and is on pace to end her career with the records in single-match hitting percentage, single-season hitting percentage and career hitting percentage. Malcom is tied at 18th in the country in hitting percentage with .391. 

“We just have a lot of hitters that are producing very efficiently,” Johnson said. “It’s a great surprise.”

Iowa State is currently fourth in the conference in hitting percentage and third in average number of kills per set with 14.16. 

“This year everyone has stepped up their game, no matter if you’re a freshman, senior or in-between,” Malcom said.

The Cyclones hold the highest number of kills in a five set match in the conference this season with 82 kills against Colorado this year. In that match, the kills were dispersed throughout the team, and Henson and Rachel Hockaday both had career-highs on the night.  

“If someone’s having an off night, everyone picks up the slack for them,” Malcom said. “We now have a lot of different options.”

Hitting percentage is usually pivotal in Big 12 play.

“It’s important because usually hitting percentage is the biggest stat in terms of importance for who wins and loses,” Johnson said.