Coming off its first loss in over three weeks, the ISU volleyball team sees the glass as half full.

Beyond winning a game against Nebraska for the first time in 12 years, the Cyclones stayed competitive the entire match and gave the No. 1 team in the nation all it could handle.

“It wasn’t like we did something impossible,” said coach Christy Johnson.

“We were saying this is not an impossibility, but something we should be doing.”

Despite the loss, there are many good things Iowa State believes it can take away from the match.

The Cyclones held Nebraska to a .237 hitting percentage, .046 lower than Nebraska’s conference average. Iowa State also blocked the Cornhuskers 12 times and out-dug them, 86-85. But most importantly, the Cyclones believe they showed they aren’t afraid of anybody.

“It just goes to show that we can compete with the No. 1 team in the nation and shows we can compete with anybody,” said senior Katie Churm.

Iowa State hopes to continue this string of good play Sunday against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. Last time the Cyclones took on the Aggies, senior Katie Jessen led Iowa State to a 3-1 victory.

“We have been playing better on the road this year, so going into A&M, we should be fine,” Churm said.

Coming off such an emotionally draining match, there is a chance for a letdown against A&M.

The coaches are taking steps to avoid a drop-off by giving the players a day off from practice to recuperate.

“We have a day off tomorrow and then two strong days of practicing, so I think we will be ready to go on Sunday,” Churm said.

This late in the season, players are starting to wear down, both physically and mentally. They tire out more quickly during matches, and with two matches a week, that can be a problem. A day off may be just what the team needs.

“As the season goes, we start getting tired faster, our arms and legs start wearing out,” said senior Nicole Lorenzen. “A day off does wonders.”

“When we had that three-day weekend a while back, it just did wonders for our team.”

The team had the Halloween weekend off, and coming out of the break, the Cyclones played maybe their most impressive match of the season, a 3-1 win over No. 21 Missouri on the road.

The Cyclones’ match with Texas A&M begins at 2 p.m. Saturday.