ISU volleyball player Sara Stribe is going home Saturday.

Home to visit family and friends. And home to play volleyball.

The junior from Carroll will introduce the rest of her teammates to her hometown Saturday when the Cyclones meet Big 12 opponent Texas Tech in the Carroll High School gymnasium at 2 p.m.

“I’m excited to go back there,” Stribe said. “I think it’s going to feel a lot like high school, playing in the same gym and in front of the same crowd.”

Stribe was a two-sport standout at Carroll High School, but focused her talents on the basketball court upon leaving high school for Drake University. Stribe eventually transferred to Iowa State and under transfer rules, had to sit out the basketball season.

During that time, Stribe became an intricate part of the volleyball team, was offered a scholarship and chose to switch her focus to volleyball.

Nobody’s happier about the direction Stribe choose to take than volleyball head coach Linda Crum. Crum said that Stribe’s is a different situation and Saturday should be a special day for her.

“It’s always a special day for Sara when she goes back home. Especially with her background, originally coming to Iowa State to play basketball and then switching to volleyball,” she said. “I think the people back there are starting to know her as a volleyball player … The town embraces her as one of their own as well as a volleyball player.”

Stribe said that although she left Carroll as a basketball player, she’s going back as a volleyball player.

“It’s taken awhile for people to think of me as a volleyball player, but I think they finally have. There are those who have followed me throughout my career, and it’s nice to see them except me as someone who plays volleyball.”

Saturday’s match will be the second time that the Cyclones have played in Carroll. In 1999, Iowa State hosted a home match against Missouri, falling in a hard-fought match 13-15, 14-16 and 14-16.

Crum said if the Cyclones want to be competitive with Texas Tech, they’ll have to be strong in a few areas.

“We need to serve aggressively and be ready on defense,” she said. “We need to work on shutting down their attack and not giving them the middle. On the other hand, we want to make sure our defense is where we want it to be, and our hitters are doing what they’re supposed to.”

The Cyclones lost in three sets early in October to the Red Raiders, but Stribe thinks the Cyclones will be ready this time around.

“They have a really quick offense. We’re going to have to be ready,” she said. “When we played them early this year, we played competitively at times, but it really wasn’t enough.”