After back-to-back wins over ranked opponents No. 18 Baylor and No. 6 Arizona State, Iowa State volleyball had now surged forward into the national conversation, climbing to No. 24 in the AVCA poll and No. 19 in the Ratings Performance Index (RPI).
“I don’t pay that much attention to it because it’s just people’s opinion,” head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “I pay much more attention to RPI.”
The players are taking the ranking a little bit differently from their coach. While the coaching staff is looking at the long term with upcoming tournament seedings, the players are taking the AVCA No. 24 ranking personally.
“We have the mindset that we are a top-ranked team and that no one should be overlooking us,” senior middle blocker Tierney Jackson said. “Let’s prove some more to them because they haven’t seen enough.”
“Our plan is just to keep going up in the rankings ’cause I know we’re good enough too,” redshirt junior outside hitter Nayeli Ti’a said.
Unlike the coach-voted AVCA poll, the RPI ranks teams using a formula based on winning percentage, opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage.
In her 21st season as head coach at Iowa State, Johnson-Lynch now has 47 top-25 ranked wins, 12 top-10 ranked wins and 398 career victories. Before taking over as the 10th coach in Cyclone volleyball, she played volleyball at the national powerhouse of Nebraska and served as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin.
The remaining schedule for the Cyclones consists of no currently ranked opponents, with the biggest test remaining against the Kansas Jayhawks.
While the Cyclones lost on the road to the former No. 15 Jayhawks earlier this season, 3-1, the second contest will be at home, where the Cyclones are undefeated this season. The Jayhawks are currently No. 21 on the RPI.
The Cyclones will then wrap up the season against Kansas State. The Cyclones defeated the Wildcats on the road in a five-set thriller on Oct. 8. Kansas State is currently at No. 41 according to the RPI.
Johnson-Lynch has also found herself a nationally recognized libero. Sophomore Rachel Van Gorp was recognized on Michella Chester’s Rotation of the Week.
Van Gorp recorded 25 digs in the Cyclones’ upset over Baylor. While 25 digs in three sets is an incredible statistic, her season high is currently 30 digs in five sets against Kansas State.
Before their recent surge, Iowa State was projected by Chester as an 8-seed, opening against Xavier in a regional hosted by top-ranked Nebraska.
With the Cyclones at No. 19 in RPI, they aren’t that far away from hosting a regional weekend in Ames.
The top-16 teams in the country welcome three other teams to their campus for the opening two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The bracket will be announced Nov. 30, but a lot of volleyball is to be played before then.
“What’s meaningful is RPI and how we finish in the Big 12,” Johnson-Lynch said.
