A new confidence and positive outlook on the Big 12 season has the ISU volleyball team looking to compete with the best as the team opens conference play Wednesday in Austin, Texas, when it faces the Texas Longhorns.

Head coach Linda Crum said she can see a difference in this team compared to those of the past.

“There are so many matches that we would not have won last year when we were stressed, and this year I see them fighting, coming from behind and being successful and winning,” Crum said. “To me, that represents that they believe in themselves in terms of confidence.”

Iowa State’s record is 7-3, and the Cyclones are coming off a 2-1 outing at the Bowling Green State Invitational last Friday and Saturday.

“We sat down and watched video from the weekend and saw what we needed to work on,” senior Renae Pruess said. “We keyed in on things that we think are going to be important to be successful against Big 12 teams. The tournament we just had, the teams weren’t quite Big 12 caliber, so we’re just trying to look ahead at the speed of a Big 12 game.”

At the tournament, Iowa State defeated Murray State and West Virginia before falling to Bowling Green, 3-2.

“We’re pretty disappointed about our one loss this weekend; we should have had that, but we are feeling good and confident,” Pruess said. “We are doing a lot of good things. We played really well against UNI, and it felt good knowing that we could go out and play the way we needed to play.”

Crum said the team is excited heading into conference action.

“Starting conference play represents a shift,” Crum said. “You have your first round of goals where you focus on nonconference, and you have some things you try to establish and build on. Obviously, your focus is stepping into the Big 12. That is your conference, and that is where you want to see that all of your hard work has led to some success.”

One of the team goals is to finish in the top half of the league standings, Pruess said.

“We’re looking to go out and prove we are a better team,” Pruess said. “Everybody was always saying Iowa State, bottom of the conference. We’re looking to change people’s minds about that.”

The Longhorns are 4-4 overall and lost their last match to No. 9 UCLA, 3-0.

Texas won its last meeting with the Cyclones 3-0, Nov. 30, 2002.

“We’re eager to go down and play Texas,” Crum said. “Typically, we have some good competitive matches at Texas. We’ve had scores that we’ve pushed it 34-32. We’ve felt that we have been pretty competitive the times that we have been there, and now we are walking in with a team that can control the ball a little more.”

Texas normally mixes up its serves, Crum said.

“They will serve short, deep, short, short, deep. In the past, that would have thrown us out of rhythm, but I think we have a group right now that can mentally handle short, they can handle deep,” Crum said. “They are a much better ball handling team, and I think that will affect Texas more than it has in the past.”

The Longhorns are paced offensively by juniors Mira Topic and Bethany Howden.

Topic has 136 kills in 28 games with 77 digs and 16 service aces. Howden has recorded 123 kills, 74 digs and 12 aces.

Freshman setter Jenny Andrew has 339 assists on the season, averaging 12.1 per game for the Longhorns.

“With Texas, we are going in with a mindset that we are going to compete,” Crum said. “We want to be ready in game one. We want to push the match into a situation where, on their home court, we will look at it and say that we have an opportunity to win here.”

Crum said this is a year the Cyclones can look at every opponent they play and say they can be competitive — if they handle the ball well, serve aggressively and defend well.

“We have got to keep them out of their offensive system, and we have really got to step it up in our ball control, which will hopefully create a lot of one-on-ones with their block, which we think will break them down,” Crum said. “They are a great blocking team, but they don’t defend well behind it. So if we can break that block apart, that’s where we can be successful.”

Pruess leads Iowa State in kills with 138, averaging 3.6 per game. Senior setter Lindsey Chapman has added 385 assists. Defensively, senior Dana Koziol has 129 digs, while sophomore Ashlie McWee has added 36 blocks.

Crum said she is proud of what the team has done so far this season.

“We’ve had some great match situations,” Crum said. “We’ve had a couple losses that I think we had higher expectations for, but that is all part of preparing for what is ahead.

“We have seen our seniors develop into strong leaders and really pull some things out that will help them be more successful in the Big 12. That is what it is all about. Nonconference gets you ready for conference. You really focus in on that first part of the conference season and then on the second round. You want to take advantage of it.”