After trouncing Oklahoma in the teams’ first meeting, the ISU volleyball team enters the second contest with its longest losing streak, at six games.

The Cyclones had dropped four games earlier in the season after a tournament and its first loss in the Big 12.

In the last match, Iowa State took down the Sooners 3-1 in Norman, Okla., a seemingly easy feat for a Cyclone team that was climbing the ranks and earning the respect of the conference. Now, Iowa State is trying to break the spell.

“We have to keep our heads up and not let this streak affect us,” said coach Christy Johnson. “We have four teams left, and if we beat three we have a great chance at still making the tournament. We have to keep that in mind.”

After ranking as high as fourth in the conference for the first time in the school’s history, the Cyclones have slipped to seventh with a 13-14 overall record and a 6-10 mark in the conference.

Oklahoma sits in last place with a 6-10 record, and it recently claimed its first conference victory Oct. 16 with a 3-2 win over Texas Tech. The team prospered under 18 kills from leading hitter Eliane Santos, as well as a career-high 26 digs from Anna Monsen.

“Oklahoma is very athletic, but they are also very beatable as long as we don’t step down,” said junior Nicole Lorenzen. “We have to play them just as hard as we would play Nebraska.”

Oklahoma’s most recent loss came at the hands of Kansas, who topped the Sooners 3-1. Oklahoma’s Joanna Schmitt led the team with 21 kills while Anna Stadel racked up a career-high 10 block assists. Santos is fourth in the conference in kills with 3.9 per game.

The Cyclones will have to be ready against an Oklahoma serving game that averages 1.48 aces per game. Sophomore Sarah Weiland leads the Big 12 with a .44 mark.

That will be a challenge for an Iowa State team that has seen its defense flounder in the past few matches, an area Johnson said always needs improvement.

“We have to continue to work on defense because we need that to beat good teams,” Johnson said.

Iowa State has maintained a third-place spot in the conference’s blocking with an average of 3.06, and sophomore Erin Boeve has been consistent with 1.66 of those per game. Junior Jessica Klein is ranked 10th with a mark of 1.2 per game.

Katie Churm continues to lead the Big 12 with an average of 4.39 digs, and places eighth in the conference in aces.

Iowa State knows this game could be its chance to dig out of its proverbial hole, and the stakes are high with the season’s end near.

“We know that the next four games are really important, and we also know that we can and should beat these teams,” Lorenzen said. “If we do we could make the tourney and that hasn’t even been an option for us before.

“This is our chance to do something no other ISU team has done in a long time.”