AMES – The Iowa State Cyclones defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 3-1 in Big 12 play at Hilton Coliseum, with the coaching staff playing a large role.
While the student-athletes are on the court physically competing, they have a team of coaches behind them observing every detail on both sides of the net.
The Cyclones had six days in between matches, and it showed as Iowa State came out slow and lost the first set. Changes were made that ultimately turned the tide for the next three sets.
“We, you know, made a couple of changes and I thought we started to execute a little better,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said.
Each coach’s role
Coaches do a lot that isn’t really highlighted to the viewing audience. Behind Johnson-Lynch is her team of assistants, who look deeper into a specific aspect of the game.
Director of volleyball operations and assistant coach Michelle Aggen serves as the coordinator at the service line. Relaying a specific spot that she would like to serve. This can expose a weakness in the opposition and benefit the team.
“Sometimes it’s not always giving his own, sometimes it’s more just putting it into their hands and letting them do what’s comfortable for them at that time,” Aggen said.
While Aggen sometimes allows the players to make their own decisions at the service line, her work in research was praised by her players and fellow coaches.
“They work all the time to figure out where serving targets are, where they struggle the most, and where they’re out of system the most,” junior middle blocker Tierney Jackson said.
Jackson had four service aces while the Cyclones tied their season high in service aces against the Mountaineers.
Recruiting coordinator and assistant coach Ciara Jones looks at how the Cyclones can score and spot weaknesses in the opposition.
The coach who specializes in the opponent and the battle within the ten-foot line is assistant coach Marc Neef.
Neef has worked on improving the Cyclone block all year and is happy with the progress that is being made.
“We didn’t get a ton of stuff blocks per se, but we touched a lot of balls that led to digs and then we could get swings back,” Neef said. “Blocking is one of those skills that you can never be too good at.”
David Irving is the technical coordinator for player development. His role on gameday is explained by Johnson-Lynch as the stats and coding guy.
“I love it,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I love numbers, so I feel like it’s super helpful to have an objective view.”
While the pages of data are good for the team, Johnson-Lynch also talked about using her own judgment to see who is playing with confidence and taking good swings.
Unified coaching move flips the momentum
The Cyclones struggled to start the match, only scoring 14 points in the first set. The tempo of the West Virginia attack beat the Cyclone block; this allowed the West Virginia hitters to get a free swing.
It was the serving that led to this solution for Iowa State.
“I thought once we served a bit more aggressively, we were able to get them out of system a little bit, and that simplifies the game from our blockers’ perspective,” Neef said.
Though each coach outlined their role and responsibilities, all were quick to praise the athletes for executing the plan and turning preparation into performance as the team closed out another win.
