ISU volleyball takes the court for the first time this weekend when it plays host to the Heritage Classic. Play begins on Friday night when the Vandals of Idaho take on UNC-Greensboro at 5 p.m. in a match at Hilton Coliseum. Iowa State will immediately follow in a game against Creighton scheduled tentatively for 7 p.m. Saturday will be a busy day as the Cyclones will start out play at 10 a.m. vs UNC-Greensboro followed by the Idaho vs Creighton match at noon. Beginning the night action, UNC-Greensboro will meet Creighton at 5 p.m., followed by Iowa State vs Idaho at 7 p.m. to wrap-up the tournament. The Cyclones are a young group looking to improve on last year’s poor season. Senior Stacy Nicks returns for her final season in the Cyclone uniform, and will be counted on to provide much of the leadership to a young team that will feature seven freshmen and four sophomores. “We’ve been working so hard,” Nicks said. “Last year, we worked hard but we didn’t see the results we wanted to. This year, I see going differently just because of the fact that we have been working so hard.” The Heritage Classic won’t be easy for the Cyclones. Creighton returns two all-conference selections in junior middle hitter Melissa Walsh and junior setter Kailey Reyes from a team that went 13-15 last season, establishing its second-best single season win total. Creighton, which last season finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, has been picked to finish fourth in the MVC preseason coaches poll. Idaho will be looking to seniors Regan Butler and Jenny Kniss to lead the team in the Heritage Classic. Bulter recorded 300 kills on last year’s squad, posting the most effective hitting percentage with a .277 average. Kniss recorded over 200 kills and digs in 1999 with her .223 hitting percentage ranking best among Idaho’s outside hitters. UNC-Greensboro will be led by first-year head coach Stacy Meadows. UNCG returns three starters from last year’s 14-17 squad. Handling the primary setting duties will be junior Robyn Jameson who totaled 253 digs, 966 assists and 36 service aces during last year’s season.