AMES — The Cyclone volleyball team completed its regular-season schedule with a loss to the Kansas State Wildcats in three sets, finishing the season 22-7 (12-6 Big 12).
While the Cyclones don’t have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as a conference champion, Iowa State finds itself well inside the top 64 in both the RPI and the AVCA Coaches Poll, nearly guaranteeing a tournament bid.
“I feel like we need to believe in ourselves,” senior middle blocker Tierney Jackson said. “We’re just gonna take these two losses, and it’s gonna fuel us to work better this week until we get to the tournament.”
With the recent struggles, Iowa State must hope its prior successes are enough to convince the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Committee to grant a high seed.
“I feel like our argument is really, really solid. Even though we didn’t end great, these are not bad losses,” head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “These are both good teams with high RPIs, like, you know, good win-loss records.”
The Cyclones’ highest-ranked win came against then-No. 6 Arizona State. The Halloween five set thriller ended the Sun Devils’ 26-game conference win streak.
“I just thought we executed pretty well,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Everybody had to do their role pretty well.”
The Arizona State victory was the highest-ranked win for the Cyclones since they defeated No. 1 Texas in 2023. It was also Johnson-Lynch’s 47th career top-25 victory as Iowa State’s head coach.
Iowa State also earned ranked wins over Utah and Baylor.
Recent predictions by ESPN reporter and NCAA volleyball social media influencer Michella Chester had the Cyclones heading north to Minnesota as a No. 5 seed.
With the Cyclones losing twice in the final week of the season, the tournament projections cannot confidently predict where the Cyclones will head for the opening weekend of the tournament.
“I thought that we have to lean on each other, and we just gotta keep working hard and fight together,” senior setter Morgan Brandt said.
The NCAA Volleyball Tournament Selection Show will air on ESPN at 5 p.m. Sunday.
