The volleyball season is coming to a close, and with it, four seniors bid farewell to the program at Iowa State.

They are Sonya Van Helden, Rachelle Van Scoyoc, Steph Dohrn and Jen Lansink.

Even though the season yielded few wins, many looked upon it as a lesson for the future.

“I wish our year had gone better. I wish we could have had a win for all the hard work we put in,” Van Scoyoc said. “I hope that all the younger players learned from this year and make it better next year.”

“It was a disappointing,” Dohrn said. “It was a character building experience to walk out with your head up after each match, knowing that you worked your hardest.”

The seniors leave with a bittersweet feeling about their first year of Big 12 competition.

“The Big 12 has been a great experience,” Lansink said. “It increased the level of play for every individual and every team.”

“The Big 12 was a very tough conference,” Dohrn said, stressing the added competition from the Texas teams.

“The competition in our conference was the toughest, six of the teams are in the top 25,” Van Helden said.

All four praised Head Coach Jackie Nunez for the inspiration and effort she has put into the team.

“Jackie is really motivational,” Van Helden said. “She can light a fire underneath you, that’s for sure.

“I really agree with her coaching philosophy. I think that she has really good standards and discipline,” Lansink said. “She is a great technical coach, and she knows her stuff.”

“She is a great competitor and wants to win, and she does everything in her power to get us to do the things to win,” Dohrn said. “She expects no less than 100 percent of us and herself. The coaching staff as a whole put in a lot of time and effort.”

The game against Idaho stood out for most of the seniors.

“The game against Utah at home was a great experience. All the support from the fans and to win decisively,” Van Scoyoc said. Idaho was the first team the Cyclones played in the NCAA Tournament last year, and the ‘Clones beat them in a three game match.

Dohrn recalled a game against Minnesota in which the team had lost the first two games and faced a big deficit in the third, but came back to win. “The other team was already talking about what kind of pizza they were going to order after the win.” Dohrn said that Iowa State was able to win the game and the match, focusing on Minnesota’s comments. “It was a marathon.”

Looking back, all the seniors said that their experiences at Iowa State has been positive. “I think that it has been a very positive experience, and I had a lot of fun here,” Van Helden said. “I have learned a lot since I came here. I gained a lot of knowledge and experience.”

“My experience was all-around great,” Van Scoyoc said. “My athletic as well as my academic experience was very helpful to prepare me for life after college.”

Some of the players have already made plans to stay involved with the sport. Van Helden has talked already with people about starting up a team with the National Volleyball Association. “Tryouts are in early or mid- December. I thought about trying out for it and making the decision then, but I am keeping it in mind.”

According to Van Helden, the NVA started out of California and the west coast, and are trying to get some Midwest teams going. “It’s to bring people to the sport and make it more popular, and so people can see what it is all about.”

Dohrn also wants to stay around the area, to have a chance to give back to the sport. “I still want to be around volleyball. I was thinking about coaching the Ames club team.”

Wednesday night, the volleyball team took on Missouri and won in a three game match, 17-15, 15-10, 7-15, earning its second Big 12 win for the season, and a 6-23 overall record.

Van Helden led the team in kills with 20, and Van Scoyoc added another dozen. Jodi DeVries had the highest hitting percentage for the night with .429. Van Helden had a .378 hitting percentage, and Van Scoyoc had a .348. Lansink, Colleen Henican and Heidi Rogers each had 11 digs throughout the match, and Lansink had a team high two service aces and had 39 assists for the evening.

The Cyclones go to Norman, Okla. for a match today against the Sooners, and Iowa State will play its final two matches of the season on Friday, Nov. 29 against Kansas, and Saturday, Nov. 30, against Kansas State. Both games are at 7:30 p.m. and will be at the Hilton.