By Kayci Woodley

Daily Correspondent

The ISU volleyball team enters Wednesday night’s match against No. 3 Texas as heavy underdogs, but after taking the Longhorns to five sets at home last season, coach Christy Johnson has confidence in her team to keep up again.

“We played a great three games against them last year,” Johnson said. “We showed that we have the ability to play with that type of team.”

Texas (6-2) has won the last five matches against the Cyclones (9-4) and currently has an 18-match home winning streak.

Iowa State will attempt to break both streaks this year by mixing up the attacks and concentrating on its side of the game.  

Coming off a five set loss against Kansas, the Cyclones will try to put that game behind them.

“We chose to put the loss behind us and just focus on Texas,” said senior Jen Malcom. “We really just have to work to be prepared for anything coming into Texas.”

Malcom came out strong against Kansas with 18 kills, which tied her career high. She finished with an attacking percentage of .548 in the game. Malcom also had seven block assists for Iowa State, which out-blocked the Jayhawks 13 to seven.

Rachel Hockaday notched another career double-double against Kansas with 14 digs and 13 kills. Victoria Henson continued her dominating performance with 15 kills.

The Cyclones’ biggest challenge will be defending against the best hitters in the conference. Texas had four players on the preseason All-Big 12 team. Ranked fifth in the nation in blocking, Texas has a team of height, with four key hitters measuring taller than 6-foot-2.

“We’ve got to put up the biggest block we can and then play great defense behind it,” Johnson said. “Their outsides carry a big load for them and how they do depends on their outsides.”

The Longhorns’ biggest threat will be Lauren Paolini, the 6-foot-5 middle blocker ranked No. 11 in hitting percentage, with a .420. Along with Paolini, Juliann Faucette and Destinee Hooker are the driving forces behind the Longhorns’ outside attacks.

“We will focus on committing on [Paolin] and knowing where she is at all times,” Malcom said.

On the other side of the ball, the Cyclones will have to convert their defense into a powerful offense.

“We need to take care of things on our side of the net,” Johnson said. “We can’t get too wrapped up in this hitter, that name or Texas.”

ISU setter Kaylee Manns will need to move the ball around in order for the Cyclones’ attacks to be successful.

“We will use quickness and speed try to mix up the sets on our attacks,” Malcom said.

The Cyclones hope to use their versatility as they travel to Austin to compete against the Longhorns.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Johnson said. “Big 12 is physical top to bottom.”