The ISU volleyball team handled one more disappointment Monday after the close of an 8-21 season — the resignation of head coach Linda Crum.

The announcement came Monday after the completion of Crum’s sixth season at the helm, which ended in an 8-21 overall record and a 1-19 standing in the Big 12. Crum accumulated a 39-135 record in her time at Iowa State.

Crum, a native of Davenport, graduated from the University of Iowa in 1987 and was head coach at Butler and Duke before arriving at Iowa State in 1999.

In the ever-revolving world of college athletics, the coach merry-go-round is nothing new, but it didn’t make it any less of a shock for Crum’s players on the emotional day.

“It was out of the blue,” said ISU junior Amanda Craig. “We are sad and upset and we don’t want her to go, and change is always hard. You don’t think it’ll happen to you.”

Crum said meeting with the players was difficult, but she knows the team will succeed in her absence.

“We were all disappointed, and you just love those kids because they’re a part of you as well,” she said. “It was a life lesson that they’ll have to understand, and there’s no choice when it comes to family. But they are resilient and will do well when a new coach is brought in.”

Crum and her husband, David, who is the ISU assistant athletics director, had a daughter, Abigail, in August; the couple already had one daughter, Allison.

Crum said family was the crucial factor in her resignation, since the time she spent maintaining a collegiate team left little time for her family to be together.

“Obviously, it’s a hard time to be in a Big 12 program, and I can’t miss out on their lives,” Crum said. “It was a pretty simple decision.”

Craig said she understands that Crum wants to spend time with her children.

Crum told her team that, despite the rough year, there was a bright future ahead of them and they couldn’t dwell on the past.

Offensively this season, the Cyclones were led by sophomores Katie Jessen and Nicole Lorenzen, who ended the season averaging 2.86 and 2.67 kills per game, respectively.

Craig will return for her senior year after averaging 10.96 assists per game. Katie Churm, who ended the season early with an injury, will also return; the libero averaged 4.07 digs per game, leading the Cyclones.

The biggest loss for the Cyclones will be the graduation of Brittany Dalager, who finished with 3.87 digs and 1.37 kills per game.

Dalager’s name is on many ISU career lists. She finished second in digs with 1,555 and fifth in kills with 987.

After practices, road trips and games, team members said they hold a high level of respect for Crum and were vocal about the impact she has had on them.

“What I have taken away from her the most is that she was very instrumental in making us respectable players,” Craig said. “Volleyball played an important role in our lives, but we were good students above everything. She showed us how to present ourselves in society.”

The necessary next step for the Cyclones will be the addition of a new coach, a role which will most likely be filled before spring practices begin.