The ISU volleyball team will be attempting to accomplish another first by reaching 5-1 in the Big 12 Conference when it plays Kansas on Wednesday.

The Cyclones’ best ever conference start was when they started 6-1 in the Big Eight in 1995.

The game with Kansas precedes a key stretch in the conference season, where Iowa State plays three teams that are tied with or leading them in the Big 12. After the Jayhawks (9-6, 2-3 Big 12), the Cyclones (10-5, 4-1 Big 12) face the previously ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, and the first-ranked, unbeaten Nebraska Cornhuskers and the 17th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats the following week.

Coach Christy Johnson said the Cyclones have to keep getting better, regardless of the opponent.

“We have things that we’re working on that really don’t have anything to do with who we are playing,” Johnson said. “What we’ve seen so far in the Big 12 is that you can be the lowest-ranked team and still upset a top-ranked team.”

“The next match is the most important one,” Johnson said.

Sophomore setter Kaylee Manns said beating a team ranked below Iowa State would give the team more confidence going into the next week-and-a-half.

“We just have to keep up our defense and our passing,” Manns said. “I honestly think if our passing and defense are there, we are going to win a lot of games against a lot of really good teams.”

The Cyclones, who have won nine of 10 matches, will be trying to take down a Jayhawk team that just got one of its top players back from recent heart surgery in senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart. The Jayhawks, whose three conference losses are to Iowa State’s next three opponents, will also be well-rested, not having played since being swept on Sept. 26 by Nebraska.

The Jayhawks, who are only one win away from the 10 they had all of last season, are ranked fifth or lower in every category but are seventh in terms of record, partially because they are holding teams to a hitting percentage of .178.

Senior middle blocker Erin Boeve will be trying to continue her hot play, since moving back to the middle from the outside two matches ago.

With Kansas having a week off, Johnson said, she expects them to be very well-prepared when they enter Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday.

“You have the whole week to prepare for the other team, because you don’t have to worry about a team Wednesday and a team Saturday,” Johnson said.

Iowa State had a week off before their previous victory over Texas Tech and Boeve said it was great to have some recuperation time.

“It was good time to let our bodies recover, before the matches ahead of us,” Boeve said. “Also, it was good to go back to just working on the basics and the primary skills we need to work on.”