Volleyball players ready for Cyclone Classic
September 7, 2006
After a week of nearly nonstop action for the ISU volleyball team, it all culminates this weekend in the Cyclone Classic at Hilton Coliseum.
The team won one game out of three at the Irvine Classic in California last weekend, and triumphed with a breezy win over the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday. The next challenge for the 6-2 team is to face uncertain competition against Valparaiso and South Dakota State.
“Both teams should be pretty good, and each traditionally have very strong programs,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson. “Valpo is having a pretty good year, and we’ll have to be prepared for them, and we’ll try some specific things against them.”
FASTTRAK
Volleyball Schedule 2006:
>> Hawkeye Challenge
August 25 – Chicago State – at Iowa City 3 – 0 (W)
Aug. 26 – Drake – at Iowa City 3 – 0 (W)
Aug. 26 – Iowa – at Iowa City 3 – 2 (W)
>> Aug. 30 – Northern Iowa – Ames 3 – 1 (W)
>> Holiday Inn Irvine Classic
Sept. 1 – UC Irvine – at Irvine, Calif. 3 – 0 (W)
Sept. 2 – Michigan – at Irvine, Calif. 1 – 3 (L)
Sept. 2 – San Diego – at Irvine, Calif. 2 – 3 (L)
>> Sept. 6 – UMKC – Ames 3 – 0 (W)
>> Cyclone Classic
6:30 p.m. Sept. 8 – Valparaiso – Ames
4 p.m. Sept. 9 – South Dakota State – Ames
6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 – Baylor – Ames
>> 7 p.m. Sept. 20 – Nebraska – at Lincoln, Neb.
>> 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 – Oklahoma – Ames
>> 7 p.m. Sept. 27 – Kansas State – at Manhattan, Kan.
>> 7 p.m. Sept. 30 – Kansas – at Lawrence, Kan.
>> 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 – Texas – Ames
>> 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 – Missouri – Ames
>> 8 p.m. Oct. 11 – Colorado – at Boulder, Colo.
>> 7 p.m. Oct. 14 – Texas Tech – at Lubbock
, Texas
>> 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 – Texas A&M – Ames
>> 7 p.m. Oct. 21 – Baylor – at Waco, Texas
>> 6:30 p.m. Oct. 25 – Kansas State – Ames
>> 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 – Missouri – at Columbia, Mo.
>> 6:30 p.m. Nov. 4 – Kansas – Ames
>> 6:30 p.m. Nov. 8 – Nebraska – Ames
>> 2 p.m. Nov. 12 – Texas A&M – at College Station, Texas
>> 5 p.m. Nov. 15 – Texas Tech – Ames
>> 6:30 p.m. Nov. 18 – Texas – at Austin, Texas
>> 7 p.m. Nov. 22 – Oklahoma – at Norman, Okla.
>> 2 p.m. Nov. 25 – Colorado – Ames
>> NCAA First/Second Rounds
Nov. 30 – Dec. 3
>> NCAA Regionals
Dec. 7 – Dec. 10
>> NCAA Championship
Dec. 14 – Dec. 16
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Valparaiso is the first task for Iowa State on Friday and should be a test of skills against a similarly matched team. The Cyclones competed against the Crusaders (4-3) in spring play, and Johnson said she expects to see much of the same defensive-minded strategies from their opponent.
“When we played Valpo in the spring, they were very scrappy and a great defensive team,” she said. “There were a lot of balls that would have gone down but didn’t, and that’s kind of how they’ve made their living in the past few years.”
Three Valparaiso players are averaging more than three kills per game, led by freshman Angie Porche, with a mark of 3.39. After suffering three straight losses from No. 6 Santa Clara, No. 21 Notre Dame and No. 13 Missouri, Valparaiso returned to the winning track with a sweep of Idaho over the weekend.
Despite what Iowa State knows about its competition, senior Nicole Lorenzen said the team’s concentration will be to the Cyclones benefit.
“Our mentality is that we need these games and we can win these games, but we can’t overlook anyone,” she said.
Saturday’s opponent, South Dakota State (5-2), dropped consecutive games against No. 9 Wisconsin and the Cyclones Big 12 foe, Oklahoma, before securing a win against Oregon State. Outside hitter Minette Ridenour is notching 3.89 kills and 3.79 digs a game to pace the Jackrabbits.
Iowa State is 3-0 all time against Valparaiso, and has a 2-1 record versus South Dakota State.
The weekend will be a telling one as the Cyclones have a chance to boost their record after the team’s two losses in Irvine. Lorenzen said that last year’s close call with the NCAA tournament has made every game crucial.
“This is definitely going to be an important weekend for us so we can improve our record,” Lorenzen said. “Every game’s important to us, and we can use these games as our motivation and work out any kinks we have before the conference starts. We need to go full throttle into these games.”
Other volleyball resources from ISD:
Cyclones ‘set’ for change (08/23)
Experienced volleyball team ready to spike the competition(08/23)
Fast Facts: Volleyball terms(08/23)
ISU volleyball team competing for points in Cy-Hawk series(08/25)
Cyclones lead in competition(08/28)
Cyclone volleyball opens home season against rival Northern Iowa(08/30)
Cyclone volleyball topples Panthers for second year(08/31)
Irvine game gives captain chance to play at home (09/01)
Volleyball’s winning streak ends during tournament (09/05)
