The ISU volleyball team will attempt to get its first conference victory tonight when it meets up with the Texas Longhorns in a Big 12 Conference matchup.

The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones currently have a record of 2-18 with a 0-11 conference mark, while the Longhorns stand at 5-12 and 4-6 in the Big 12.

After dropping matches to Drake, Texas Tech and Kansas State last week, the Cyclones remain optimistic that they can get their first conference win of the season.

Iowa State was swept earlier this season by Texas on Sept. 16 in Austin, Texas.

Texas has traditionally been a volleyball “powerhouse”, but Head Volleyball Coach Linda Grensing expects a different team will greet the Cyclones at Hilton tonight.

“Texas is a little different team then we’ve seen in the past,” Grensing said.

“In the past, I think they’ve been one of the dominate teams in the conference. This year they seem to have some vulnerability and they’ve had some losses they don’t typically have.”

The Texas attack features junior rightside hitter Gipy Duarte. Duarte, a native of Lima, Peru, is coming off a quad injury which caused her to miss seven matches earlier this season.

Duarte came off the bench to post career highs in kills (28) and digs (19) en route to a a 3-2 win over the Kansas Jayhawks on Oct. 7.

The former member of the Peruvian National Team became the seventh Longhorn ever to post 28 or more kills in a match joining her sister, former Longhorn Samy Duarte, on the list.

Leading the Texas offense this season has been senior setter Jill Gremmel.

The Dubuque native handed out a season-high 76 assists against Kansas to move into second place on the career assist list at Texas.

Gremmel is averaging 1.48 kills, 2.37 digs, and 13.22 assists per game.

Junior Nanette Allen realizes that in order to be effective in tonight’s match, the Cyclones will have to be aware of Duarte and Gremmel.

“We’re really going to have to focus on those two,” Allen said.

“There will be some other people on the court that can do some damage, but none as much as those two.”

Iowa State has been in the led at times, but never can seem to hold the momentum. One key to the match will be to establish themselves on the court.

“If we can be consistent, be steady, and be patient, those are the goals to the match,” Allen said.

“We’ve got all the tools. We’ve got great players, but we just need to put it all together.”