It’s been a season of ups and downs for the ISU volleyball team thus far, but the next match presents a golden opportunity for the Cyclones to keep their confidence and take a substantial step towards a higher finish in the conference standings. 

The Cyclones (14-8, 6-5 Big 12) will play host to the Baylor Bears (14-7, 6-5) on Wednesday night for the sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12, as just one nonconference loss separates to two teams with identical conference records. 

After starting the conference season 1-4, the Cyclones have won five of six since, and notched their biggest win of the season in a 3-2 upset of No. 13 Kansas State at home a week ago. For possibly the first time this season, Iowa State is starting to feel some momentum swing in its favor. 

“Previously after a good match, we’ve turned around and not played very well,” said head coach Christy Johnson. “But now we have played a few good matches in a row and I feel like we’ve got some good momentum now.” 

The first time the two teams played, Iowa State had just snapped a four-match losing streak, and was headed to Waco while in the midst of some severe difficulties on the road, not yet winning a conference road match. Despite their previous struggles away from Ames, the Cyclones walked away with a 3-1 win over Baylor, and became the first team to take a match from the Bears at the Farrell Center in Waco this season. 

“Everybody knows that we play better at home, so it’s important that we play with the same intensity that we did down there,” said setter Kaylee Manns. “And it’s amplified now that we’re right with them in the Big 12, and this is a chance to prove that we’re the better team and deserve to be ahead of them in the standings.” 

The Cyclones dropped the first set to the Bears on Oct. 11, but came storming back to sweep the last three. It took some time for Iowa State to adjust to Baylor’s hitters, but the team started to run away with the match after a few defensive adjustments. 

“We put a lot of pressure on them with our serving and passing,” Johnson said. “Although we started slow, we really started to play better defense during the course of the match. As soon as we started making some plays on defense and made the ball go back and forth over the net several times we felt like we started to put pressure on them and get into a groove.” 

The keys to the previous win against Baylor are also exactly what has catapulted the Cyclones to the recent successes they found in matches against Kansas State and Missouri at home last week. Tough and gritty defensive play has been the trademark of ISU volleyball in recent years, and the story has been no different during the Cyclones’ current hot streak. 

“Defensively we have been very good lately,” Johnson said. “By getting the other team a little out of system, their hitters get frustrated because they can’t put the ball away. When we get into that defensive groove we always seem to play our best as a team.” 

In their last five victories, the Cyclones have held their opponents to just a .156 hitting percentage, substantially lower than their season average of .181. 

First serve between the Cyclones and Bears is set for 6:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.