After its match with Kansas State on Wednesday, the ISU volleyball team will have reached the halfway point of their conference schedule.

A win over the Wildcats will put the Cyclones (4-5) at the .500 mark in the conference, and coach Christy Johnson believes that some close losses on the road have shown her that the team is close to being in the top tier of the conference.

“There are definitely some disappointing losses in there, particularly on the road,” Johnson said. “We are coming along and I’m still pleased with the progress.”

Iowa State currently sits mired in a tie for fifth place with Colorado and Texas A&M, one game behind Baylor, in fourth, and one game ahead of Kansas and Missouri, who are in a tie for eighth. The Cyclones own victories over Baylor and Texas A&M, but have dropped decisions on the road to the other three teams.

Senior middle blocker Jen Malcom said the team feels it should be higher in the standings at this point in the season.

“Losing those couple of extra [matches] means that we have to work that much harder in the next half,” Malcom said.

Cyclones focus on finishing

Iowa State dropped all three of its matches against Kansas, Missouri and Colorado on the road in five sets.

Against the Jayhawks and Buffaloes, the Cyclones held leads and, against Colorado, they held set and match points in sets two and four, at 24-22.

Junior setter Kaylee Manns said the team is relaxing a little too much and needs to put the set or the match away when they have the chance.

“We need to have someone step up at that point and put the ball away or make a big play,” Manns said.

The Cyclones will start the second half of their schedule with Missouri on Saturday.

“When you get the opportunity, you have to go grab it and make sure you handle the ball and execute and stay composed,” Johnson said. “We’ve lost our five [set] matches so far this year and to be a great team you have to be able to win some of those.”

Henson wins Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week

Outside hitter Victoria Henson had 30 kills in the match with Colorado and hit .321, becoming the first Cyclone to reach the 30-kill plateau since 1998.

That, coupled with her performance against Texas Tech the previous Wednesday, in which she put down 16 kills on .621 hitting, garnered Henson the award for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career.

“I’m putting the ball anywhere and she is putting it down against two really big blockers,” Manns said.

With her performances last week, Henson moved to second in kills per set in the Big 12 in conference matches, at 4.17.

“Victoria is becoming one of the best outside hitters in the Big 12,” Johnson said.

“It is pretty thrilling for us because she has come a long ways since she got here.”

Malcom injury update

Despite an ankle injury that kept her out of the match against Texas Tech, Malcom played against Colorado and had 13 kills on .333 hitting, playing in all five sets of the match.

Malcom did not practice Monday and said the ankle was a little sore. Malcom said she will be ready to go for the match with Kansas State.

“I wasn’t not going to play,” Malcom said. “[Johnson] kept asking how it was and I kept saying, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine’ and I was going to gut it out anyway.”

Johnson said Malcom’s condition continues to get better and was not surprised with Malcom playing Saturday but said she was surprised with her level of play.

“She was very effective despite the fact that you could see that she was hurting a little bit,” Johnson said. “She knew we needed her and I don’t think I could have kept her off the floor; it wouldn’t have been up to me.”