Iowa State volleyball’s 2023 season got off to a strong start Friday evening with a sweep over 2022 NCAA Tournament participant South Dakota.
The Cyclones will look to get off to a 2-0 start to the season as they take on DePaul to conclude the Cardinal and Gold Challenge.
DePaul went 10-20 in 2022 and will be attempting to turn things around this season, starting with South Dakota on Saturday and following that up with Iowa State on Sunday.
Iowa State expects to be without preseason All-Big 12 sophomore Maya Duckworth for the second-straight game, as she is dealing with some nagging injuries and is currently “week-to-week,” according to Iowa State coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.
The Cyclones did not miss a beat without their star player on Friday, but that did not mean there were not areas that needed improvement.
“It’s a long season, we got a lot of things to tweak and workout, maybe change some rotations, change some plays and clean up some serving,” Johnson-Lynch said.
Serving was one negative in what was an otherwise impressive performance by Iowa State Friday. A total of 11 serving errors from the Cyclones let South Dakota keep multiple sets closer than they probably should’ve been.
Iowa State will also be looking for strong performances from senior Annie Hatch and freshman Nayeli Gonzalez. Hatch led the way for the Cyclones with 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .379 Friday. Gonzalez recorded 11 kills with a .385 hitting percentage in her collegiate debut.
If Iowa State can clean up the unforced errors and get another strong showing from its stars, it should be in a good position to continue its winning ways.
The match will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum, as Iowa State looks to go unbeaten in the Cardinal and Gold Challenge, before making a trip to Arizona for the GCU Tournament.
