Though the premiere of its Big 12 schedule didn’t begin the way it had hoped, the ISU volleyball team is looking to the future and learning from its past.

Iowa State opened conference play Wednesday night against No. 10 Missouri, which solidified its ranking with a brisk 3-0 sweep over the Cyclones. The Cyclones’ defense and blocking were played to the hilt, but Missouri’s rapid offense and precise setting were too much for the Cyclones to overcome.

“Offensively, we were being creative, which is something we can take into our next game,” said coach Christy Johnson. “We learned some things tonight about covering our hitters and taking care of the ball better.

“And even though we were physically ready, we have to learn to be mentally tough enough.”

The Cyclones have the opportunity to break that conference hurdle Saturday when No. 18 Texas travels to Ames. The Longhorns wrangled their first Big 12 victory of the season Wednesday against Colorado in four games.

The combination of middle hitters Leticia Armstrong and Brandy Magee was unstoppable for Texas, as the two combined for 42 of the team’s 66 kills. Armstrong had previously bested at 10 kills, and she was a vision of consistency with a .529 hitting percentage.

“Texas has become a really good program again,” Johnson said. “This is a team you truly have to beat, because they won’t be giving up any points. We have to earn all of them.”

Junior hitter Jessica Klein said the Cyclones are eager to prove they aren’t the 1-19 conference team they were a season ago.

“We are realizing that we definitely have a chance to show the conference we need to be taken seriously,” she said. “We have to go in and lay everything on the line to get it done.”

Magee and Armstrong are leading the Big 12 with .492 and .422 hitting percentages, respectively, after their showcases against Colorado.

Sophomore Michelle Moriarty is pumping out 13.33 assists a game, ranking fourth. Lauren Paolini leads the squad with 3.76 kills per game.

“We have to go at them point after point, and eventually we’ll start getting those games and matches,” Johnson said.

Iowa State has taken its exceptional blocking of late into a third place rank in the conference, coming in at 3.0 a game. The Cyclones are dominating on defensive by placing second in digs at 16.97 a game. Erin Boeve is ranked second behind Nebraska’s Melissa Elmer with 1.62 blocks an outing, while libero Katie Churm is digging out 4.89 saves a game.

“When you sit on the sidelines, Texas is not much of a different team than we are,” Johnson said. “The only difference is that they are used to winning, and we are trying to build that attitude. Give us time and we will be able to do that, too.”

Klein agreed Iowa State has something a lot of teams accustomed to winning have lost – its sense of heart.

“We always seem like a team with a lot of character, and we’re always putting heart into whatever we do,” she said. “We have an advantage to other teams, and that is that we are able to really come together as a team, not just people playing on the court.”