At the moment, the ISU volleyball team is just anxious for the season’s first competition.

“We are so ready to play someone else right now,” Brittany Dalager said. “We need to play our game and not down to anyone else’s level.”

The Cyclones will travel to Auburn, Ala., for their first matches of the season at the Auburn Tournament.

Iowa State will face Birmingham Southern and then Eastern Tennessee State. The final match is against Auburn.

The Birmingham Southern game will be freshman Erin Boeve’s first with a Cyclone jersey on, and her excitement is obvious.

“I’m a little nervous because I don’t know what to expect,” Boeve said. “We want to win the tournament as a good way to kick off the season. We want to see how we compare to other teams.”

The Auburn Tigers, coming off of a 10-18 season, were without two outside hitters in their last meeting with Iowa State.

The Cyclones anticipate this to be their toughest match, even after they defeated the Tigers in three games last year.

Interim head coach Amy Farber Knowles said she is confident her team will come out with three victories.

“I’m excited about this group of girls, and I believe we’ll do great things this year,” she said. “We want to make a bold statement, and we want the girls to represent our school in a positive way.”

Much of that statement will come from the starting lineup that was announced this week.

Sophomores Nicole Lorenzen and Katie Jessen will start as outside hitters, while juniors Katie Kruenegel and Ashlie McWee will cover middle blocker duties. Junior Amanda Craig takes the setting position and will be replaced by Boeve in rotation. Katie Churm will play the back row in the libero position.

“We have so much depth, and there are kids on the bench ready to fill in on a bad night,” Knowles said. “We have Dalager and (Christine) Smeele seeing lots of play in the backcourt too. Our team unity is solid right now.”

Good ball control is the key to success for the Cyclones.

With Churm, Dalager and Smeele in the back row, Knowles said, Iowa State has some reliable passing.

Boeve said if the Cyclones pass, they can “definitely put it away.”