After dropping two consecutive conference games to ranked teams, the ISU volleyball squad has something left to prove.

The Cyclones lost their first home game of the season Wednesday night against No. 24 Texas A&M, a team that entered the match with a 1-5 Big 12 record. The Aggies proved statistics are of little concern when a win is on the line, and the Cyclones dropped to 11-8 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

“Texas A&M had the toughest Big 12 schedule yet of anyone, and their record showed nothing of a program with a great tradition,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson. “We’re not disappointed that we lost to a good team, we’re disappointed because we had opportunities that we didn’t grab.”

ISU hitter Jessica Klein, who broke her career-high kills record Wednesday, said the match was a hard loss to swallow.

“We were right there and we were so close, but we have to put in that extra effort to get the win,” she said. “We were just hanging in with them instead of taking the lead.”

Iowa State will seek conference redemption Saturday afternoon in Norman as it takes on Oklahoma, a team with mounting troubles of its own.

The Sooners are 5-12 overall and winless in the Big 12, suffering eight losses thus far in the season. Oklahoma dropped a 3-1 decision to Baylor on Wednesday night in Waco, punching another hole in a nine-match losing streak.

“We have to be ready to take on Oklahoma,” said ISU middle blocker Erin Boeve. “We just need to change a few small things to get there.”

Iowa State defeated Oklahoma 3-1 in its first league road game last year, its only conference win in a dismal 1-19 season. The Sooners retaliated by sweeping the Cyclones in three games in their annual trip to Ames.

“Oklahoma is a very athletic team, and their 6-2 offense will hurt us if we’re not serving tough,” Johnson said. “They have a middle blocker that is really impressive, and we have to watch three hitters all the time.”

Johnson also said the team will need to be ready for Eliane Santos, a junior transfer from the College of Southern Idaho. Santos was considered one of the best players ever at the junior college level and was a NJCAA first-team All-American.

Santos is ranked fourth in the conference with 4.16 kills per game, as well as sixth in blocking with 1.40 stuffs a game. Junior Joanna Schmitt, who tied Santos with 14 kills against Baylor, contributes 3.13 kills a game.

The team, which is fourth in the Big 12 in service aces, is led by top-ranked sophomore Sarah Weiland, who churns out 0.55 aces per game. She delivered a conference-high nine aces in a Sept. 2 match against Loyola.

As with the illusion of Texas A&M’s record, the Cyclones can’t take anything for granted, Johnson said.

“We need to pick up where we left off against Texas A&M, but this time we need to execute those few points that we didn’t get,” Johnson said. “Every win is one more than the team had last year, and the goal is to just keep getting better.

“We need to continue to be a team other teams are worried about.”