Nebraska owns a 60-match winning streak over Iowa State that dates back to their first match in 1975, but the hiring of Amy Knowles to the ISU program adds someone with success against the Cornhuskers.

Knowles was named associate head volleyball coach under head coach Linda Crum Thursday. She replaces Jennifer McCall, who left Iowa State in February. Third-year assistant coach Trent Herman rounds out the volleyball staff.

The first priority is to get the Cyclones into the top half of the Big 12 Conference, Knowles said.

Iowa State finished in last place in the Big 12 with a 1-19 league record last season, but finished with the best overall record since 1995 with a 10-22 overall mark.

Once progression up the Big 12 ladder has been established, the target is the Cornhuskers.

“I would like to help develop the team to get into the top half of the Big 12 because that would get us into the NCAA tournament,” Knowles said. “And then we would ultimately try to knock Nebraska off the top. It’s not unachievable at all.”

A standout for Oklahoma from 1987-91, Knowles has roots in the former Big Eight Conference that evolved into the Big 12 in 1996 after merging with four schools from the Southwest Conference. Knowles was a team captain in 1991 and an all-conference selection that season.

And she helped beat Nebraska.

“I played on Oklahoma’s team the only two years that Nebraska lost,” Knowles said.

“I know what it’s like to play at that level and it can be done. If I can help show these girls and give them belief that they can do it, I’ll be serving my purpose here for Linda.”

Crum said it will be nice to have another coach on the bench with head coaching experience. Knowles comes to Iowa State having spent the last six years as the head volleyball coach at Oral Roberts, where she led the Golden Eagles to a conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance each year and a 143-59 overall record.

Knowles also spent the 1996 season as the head coach at Northeastern Illinois University and spent four seasons as an assistant at Oklahoma after her graduation there.

“She just had such a good mix of experience and play and really brought a lot to our program, especially with her head coaching experience,” Crum said.

Knowles said she has learned a tremendous amount about all the duties of a good coach in her coaching career.

“It’s more than X’s and O’s and your knowledge about the sport,” Knowles said. “I feel that as a collegiate coach, you teach more life lessons every day on the importance of what sports bring to an young person’s life and the development that they make as a student-athlete for the rest of their life.

“It’s so much more about the preparation for their future as opposed to the four or five years we have them here, while they’re at the university.”

Crum, who just finished her fourth season with Iowa State, said Knowles will do a variety of things for the program.

“Specifically, she would work with our outside hitters with some hitting and serve receive and a little bit with our serving,” Crum said. “Beyond the gym, she’ll be involved with recruiting. Really, assistants get a little bit of everything.”

Knowles said she had a strong desire to get back into volleyball on the Big 12 level.

“The Big 12 is one of the top conferences — within the top three — in not only volleyball, but every sport,” Knowles said. “That’s the kind of level that I wanted to get back in. Even though I’ve been very successful at the Division I level where I was at, I was ready to step back into the level that the Big 12 plays at.”

Iowa State is also closer to home for Knowles, who grew up just a few hours away in Minnesota. She said Crum’s coaching philosophy was also a factor in her decision to accept the position.

Knowles received her masters degree in sports psychology and said sometimes it’s hard for a team to dig itself out of a rut — similar to the conference hole Iowa State has been in. She wants help the team believe they can play with the contenders.

“I focus a lot on the communication and the team support that everybody needs,” Knowles said.

“My main focus is on building self-esteem and building self-confidence, because if you can do that with your student-athletes, then the sky is the limit.”