Just one victory shy of a tournament title Sunday, the ISU volleyball team seeks redemption in the form of an intrastate rival.

Iowa State (5-1) hopes to put the spring back in its step with a meeting against Northern Iowa, who is on the verge of a domineering season.

The Panthers upset No. 22 Colorado State at the Pepperdine Invitational this weekend, and the team has been receiving votes from the CST/AVCA Coaches Top-25 Poll to vie for a spot in the rankings.

A Cyclone win against UNI would be the first in 14 years, when Iowa State nipped the Panthers at home in a 3-2 victory.

“We don’t need any added motivation for this game because this is a great rivalry,” said coach Christy Johnson. “This game is motivation enough, especially since we don’t play Iowa this year.”

Sophomore hitter Laura Rowen posted a career-high 24 kills in a win over Cal State Northridge at the Invitational, which increased the team’s record to 4-1. Stephanie Germann and Stephanie May garnered 16 and 12 kills, respectively, while junior Patricia Dietz also set a career-high mark with 29 digs.

Rowen is pacing the team with 3.70 kills per game, while the team is notching 14.25 kills a game collectively. Dietz is leading the Panthers with 3.9 digs per game.

“They have some really strong hitters and are a bigger team than we are, and they’ll be throwing some different shots at us,” Jessen said. “But they’re weaker on defense and passing, so we will be able to build off of that.”

Kristin Belzung is setting 11 assists per game, while Danielle Brazdais knocking down blocks at a mark of 1.9.

For Iowa State, junior hitter Katie Jessen is the kill provider with 4.42 slams a game, followed by sophomore Erin Boeve with 3.45. Junior Katie Churm has tallied 105 digs in six games, boosting her to the digs leader in the Big 12.

Iowa State’s emphasis on defense has placed it first in the Big 12 in digs, posting 18.8 a game.

The Cyclones are sitting sixth in the conference in kills, blasting 16.65 a game, as well as fifth in blocks with a mark of 2.97.

“We played them a couple of times in the spring, but this is the one that really counts,” Jessen said. “We have high hopes for this game, and it’s always great to beat a fellow Iowa school.”

First serve in the quest for the state title will fly in West Gym in Cedar Falls at 7 p.m. The match will mark the Panthers’ first at home this season.

The Cyclones commanded the first day of play at the Cyclone Classic at Hilton Coliseum last weekend, downing Montana and South Dakota State each in games of 3-1.

Jessen took a stronghold on her season outlook with a career-high 25 kills against Montana, while teammate Amanda Craig fell one assist short of breaking her career record.

Saturday was a show of contradictions, as Iowa State took down Drake in a 3-0 sweep, but was handed the same fate by Stephen F. Austin in the championship game.

“We were pretty disappointed, but we found out what we needed to work on,” Johnson said. “Stephen F. Austin did a good job of exploiting our weaknesses.”