The Cyclones showed the duality of volleyball in the Big 12 last week. A winning sweep in match one and a losing sweep in match two is how Iowa State fared against Oklahoma.
Currently, Iowa State finds itself eighth in the conference standings at 5-5 and 14-7 overall. The season up to this point has been an up-and-down ride in a sporadic conference that seems to cannibalize itself.
This week, the Cyclones will head to the Lone Star State to battle the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU is 13-10 on the season and 6-6 in the Big 12, tied with Iowa State at a .500 winning percentage.
The two will match up similarly in terms of road and home wins. At home, TCU has gone 6-3 while Iowa State has a 5-3 road record.
The Horned Frogs snapped a four-game losing streak last Friday, beating UCF 3-1 in the second match against the Knights. The losses for TCU in that stretch include West Virginia, No. 6 Texas, No. 14 Kansas and match one against UCF.
Against unranked Big 12 teams at home, TCU is 3-1, beating Texas Tech twice and splitting the series against Cincinnati. Iowa State swept West Virginia and lost to Kansas State in their three conference games against unranked teams.
Iowa State started the year on fire in road games, going 5-0 in non-conference. The Big 12 has been a different story, as the Cyclones have yet to win a road game in the conference and are on a three-game road skid.
It was a tough start to the year for TCU, losing to then-ranked No. 7 Minnesota 3-1 and No. 2 Wisconsin 3-0 in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.
Offensively, TCU has a hit percentage of .219, while Iowa State’s is up to .248 thanks to its high success in its first match against Oklahoma. The Cyclones average 0.5 more kills per set than TCU.
On the defensive side, both teams give up 12.3 kills per set. Iowa State holds opponents to a .200 hit percentage, slightly more than TCU’s .187.
The Cyclones and Horned Frogs are nearly even in many stat categories, which could mean that both matches will be tight.
The final push to the end of the season starts now. Iowa State needs to finish the season strong to ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa State takes on TCU on Friday and Saturday. Both matches will start at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
