On Wednesday, the ISU volleyball team will play another opponent it dominated in the first week of Big 12 play, but a different outcome is desired this time.

The Cyclones (14-10, 8-6 Big 12), who had swept the Texas A&M Aggies in September, lost to them 3-1 on Saturday after a sluggish start. Now, Iowa State plays another team it swept in its first Big 12 match, the Baylor Bears (14-11, 6-8 Big 12), at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.

“We need to come prepared and be ready to go,” said senior middle blocker Jen Malcom. “It didn’t happen on Saturday and we just need to learn from it.”

Baylor is coming off of a five-game loss to the Missouri Tigers, but had won five consecutive matches before that. Four of those victories came against Big 12 opponents, which has brought the Bears back from a 2-7 start in the conference.

Sophomore setter Kaylee Manns said the Cyclones need to come out strong, which they have struggled to do, and play their game to defeat Baylor.

“We need to come out and make a statement in the first game,” Manns said. “We haven’t come out very strong in the first games.”

The Bears, offensively, are similar to Texas A&M, but they bring a different dynamic with left-handed preseason All-Big 12 setter Taylor Barnes, said coach Christy Johnson.

“She is pretty offensive, which is not something we see a lot,” Johnson said. “She also has a really nice jump serve so we have to make sure we’re ready for that.”

Barnes is second in the Big 12 with .43 aces per game and also has 124 kills on the season with a .279 hitting percentage, which is the second-highest percentage for the Bears.

Barnes also distributes the ball to a Baylor attack that is hitting .242, while allowing a .200 hitting percentage defensively, compared to .219 and .179 for Iowa State, respectively. Iowa State is first in the Big 12 in blocks with 3.34 per game, but Baylor is not far back in third with 3.01 per game. The main reason for that is middle blocker Anna Breyfogle, who is sixth in the nation in blocks at 1.67 per game.

Malcom said the Cyclones need to spread the ball around and have balance to help keep Breyfogle honest.

“We gave to keep her guessing what we’re going to do,” Malcom said.

Johnson said Iowa State needs to make good attack decisions as well.

“We talked to our outside hitters a lot about hitting high off [blockers’ hands] and not low into her arms,” Johnson said.

Iowa State is also trying to get some strong momentum going toward a home showdown with the second-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday.

Johnson said everyone is excited for the match against Nebraska but there is a match to play before that.

“We can’t really start thinking about that until Wednesday night when the match is over,” Johnson said. “Every win is important from here on out and we need every win we can get.”