Football

Overall record: 2-6

Conference record: 0-4

Last game: 28-0 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln

Coming up:

Nov. 8- Kansas State

Nov. 15- Colorado

Nov. 22- at Kansas

Nov. 29- at Missouri

Q. With a rather dismal start to your season and only four games left to go, have you started re-evaluating anything or changed your outlook on the remainder of the season?

A. No, we’re going to do all we can to finish with some real positive things here; there’s still half of the Big 12 season yet to play and a lot of opportunities out there.We’re very disappointed, obviously, with our season so far, and we have played some tremendous football teams, but we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, I think, and we’re hoping to rally these kids and come back. We’ve got two games at home in a row and those are the last two appearances in Jack Trice Stadium for some really fine seniors that have been a part of a lot of success here at Iowa State, so we’re trying to do all we can to finish as strong as we can.

Q.What do you hope to accomplish with the rest of your season?

A. Well, we obviously want to have some success and three of the last four teams [we play] have winning records, and two of them could easily be nationally ranked when we do play them.

I’m sure Kansas State has a good chance that they’ll be back nationally ranked; they were most of the season already. Colorado is always tough and always very talented. We also have two road games at Kansas and Missouri, two teams that are playing outstanding football. The challenges are many, but we want to continue to improve and try and finish with as much success as we can. We’re going to work relentlessly as a staff to try and achieve that.

Q.What effect has this season had on recruiting?

A.We can’t get into any specifics, but all I know is that we’re getting tremendous feedback from recruits. They know that there isn’t any one season that dictates a program, and I think they know that the foundation is very strong, despite what’s happened in recent weeks against some really outstanding nationally ranked teams.

We’ve taken the program places it’s never been, and we’ll continue to have a good program in place here at Iowa State, and I don’t think there’s any doubt [of that] from a recruiting standpoint.

— Josh Madden

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Soccer

Overall record: 5-8-4

Conference record: 2-5-2

Last game: 1-1 tie with Baylor (the team’s fourth tie of the season)

Coming up:

Friday- Missouri

Sunday – Minnesota

Nov. 6 – Big 12 Tournament

Q.How did Iowa State fare at the Big 12 Tournament last year?

A.Well, we went in to the tournament as the No. 8 seed, which is what we may go in as this year. We lost to the No. 1 seed, Texas, in the first round.

Q. What is the team feeling going into the Missouri game this weekend?

A.We’ve been in the same situation the past three games, and that is a ‘can’t lose’ situation. Because of this, there has been a little extra weight on our shoulders. There is a lot on the line.

Q. Is the team doing anything different to prepare for the Missouri game that they haven’t done for other games?

A.We are approaching this game very much like the previous games we’ve played this season. Like I said, there is a lot on the line, but we simply have to focus on the game at hand. We are not worrying about anything but controlling the things we can control, and that is ourselves.

Q. Has there been anyone of the team who has stepped up as a leader or become more vocal as you approach the Big 12 Tournament?

A.I have definitely had some great talks with some of the [women] about our season and believing in the program. The captains have definitely stepped up and tried to pull everyone together before the games. But there are players from all the classes that are consistently showing leadership. Everyone shows leadership in a different way — some are more verbal and some are more of a leader on the field. We’ll see who emerges as a leader on Friday.

Q. What does it mean for Iowa State to play Missouri here in Ames?

A. It’s important for us not to be traveling this weekend. The game is Friday afternoon, and we hope to get some extra support from the ISU fans. And it’s Halloween, so we have some goodie-bags for the fans. It’s obviously going to be a competitive match and one that means a lot for our team. It’s very special to play this game at home.

— Ashlee Langholz

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Tennis

Singles record: 27-30

Doubles record: 11-11

Last competition: Senior Sabrina Evers and sophomore Evangelina Soriano competed at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals in Salt Lake City last Wednesday through Friday. Soriano lost her qualifying match 6-0, 6-3 and Evers won one match 6-3, 6-2 and lost one 6-0, 6-2. In doubles play, the pair lost its only match 9-8.

Coming up: Fall season has ended Spring season begins Jan. 23 at Iowa Invitational in Iowa City

Q.How did the fall season go for the team?

A.I think it’s been one of our most focused groups that we’ve had. Our freshmen, Jill [Palen] and Danielle [Uscinski], really fit in extremely well and they’ve been working hard. I know that our seniors will want to perform well in the spring and will work hard over the next few months. I’ve been extremely pleased with the team’s effort and focus.

Q.Which areas is the team going to focus on over the offseason?

A.I think it comes back to the individual things they want to work on. It’s not as though we’re a basketball team working on an offensive or defensive scheme; we work on a lot of individual things. We’ll work on adding more variety to serves and becoming more aggressive. Strength and conditioning is always a factor, and the team has been doing great in those regards.

Q.How does the fall season help prepare for spring play?

A.It’s a matter of identifying our strengths and weaknesses as a team, and I think that [the team members] do a good job of individually recognizing those things as they’re competing. We had a nice blend of matches where we won quite a few to gain some confidence. We lost enough matches to identify weaknesses. I think we had a great blend of strength of schedule. When it comes down to it I think it’ll be the student-athlete’s attitude that helps define [our spring season].

Q. What is your outlook for the spring season?

A.Well, I feel very good about it. The Big 12 had a great showing at regionals, all the teams looked to be very strong, so conference play will be very tough. We have a very strong schedule, and that’s the reason our players came to Iowa State.

— John Wilson

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Volleyball

Overall record: 10-12

Conference record: 2-9

Last game: 3-0 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb.

Coming up:

Wednesday- Colorado

Sunday- Texas

Nov. 5- at Kansas State

Nov. 8- at Baylor

Nov. 12 Texas Tech

Q. What are your thoughts on how the season has gone so far?

A. I’m pleased with a lot of things that have happened. I’d like us to have two to three more wins than we have right now. But at the same time, with some of the struggles that we’ve gone through, I think if we stay focused we can turn those around. As far as where we finish the season, obviously we still have some goals left. I’d like to see us end up .500 on the season.

Q. What has been a high point so far this season?

A. The high point is, I think, we’ve competed against every team that we’ve played at some point in the match. There’s no question. To see the program is at a point where we can compete with every team in our conference — that’s a high point for me. What would make it an even higher point is to really accomplish the goals that we have set for this last portion of the season.

Q. Any low points?

A. There were some matches I had the expectation we’d go at least four to five games in, and we lost in three. There’s one in particular I think we let go, that we had the opportunity to win. Being able to finish, I would say, would be the low point.

Q.What has the team improved upon?

A. I think we fight and compete. That’s one thing that’s different. The thing that helps us do that is, I think, at points we can really be pretty tenacious on our defense and I think that’s one thing that has been a strength. The ball-handling has been something that’s a lot more solid and given us more opportunities.

Q.What are some realistic goals for the rest of the season?

A. Nine matches left — for me, four to five wins is realistic. And that’s something to me that’s really important because that gives us the opportunity to be looked at in the NCAA Tournament.

— Diana Homan