Iowa State played one of its most complete games on Wednesday against West Virginia, pushing the Cyclones over .500 in Big 12 play.

Iowa State is granted the opportunity to build off its win over West Virginia with another home match on Saturday against TCU.

“[We need to] just take this momentum into Saturday’s game and keep this momentum going,” said redshirt senior Samara West.

In Iowa State’s match against the Mountaineers, the Cyclone offense was more lively than it has been lately.

The offensive unit hit at a clip of .287 on Wednesday. The last time the Cyclones had a higher hitting percentage this season, Iowa State was in Ohio playing Pittsburgh in early September.

What did Iowa State coach Christy Johnson-Lynch do to revitalize the Cyclone offense?

“A wrinkle now and then just to make the other side think a little bit, so they don’t always know what we’re doing,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The Cyclones also focused on hitting to different areas of the court to keep the opponent off-balance.

Junior hitter Jess Schaben took that strategy and ran with it, accounting for 18 kills in the win over West Virginia.

After the match, Schaben talked about how Iowa State’s confidence skyrocketed, and how it can benefit the Cyclones moving forward to TCU.

“I think [the West Virginia match was] a confidence builder for sure,” Schaben said. “We know we can do it now. Now let’s do it consistently.”

The Horned Frogs, like any other Big 12 team, can win on any given night. Recently, TCU has been in a slump in Big 12 play.

TCU picked up a win at home against Kansas State, but the Horned Frogs, outside of that match, have failed to pick up another win in six chances.

In their six conference losses, the Horned Frogs have managed to win only two sets. Most recently, TCU was swept by Oklahoma on its home court in Fort Worth, Texas.

Even with the slow conference start, TCU has a number of high-caliber offensive weapons. Junior blocker Anna Walsh is one of those offensive weapons for the Horned Frogs.

Walsh has totaled 194 kills, averaging 2.90 kills per set. In conference play, Walsh’s average of 3.46 kills per set ranks her seventh in the conference.

Alongside Walsh, TCU has seen the emergence of freshman outside hitter Allye Beth Deaton. Deaton has compiled 198 kills, while averaging three kills per set in her freshman campaign.

Deaton is currently eighth in kills per set in Big 12 play with 3.42. Deaton also brings a dominant presence behind the service line.

The freshman is averaging 0.21 service aces per set in conference play, which ranks her seventh in the Big 12.

Deaton, a Waco, Texas native, will see a familiar face on the court this Saturday.

Last season, Iowa State’s freshman blocker Avery Rhodes was a senior at Midway High School, playing next to Deaton, another fellow senior at Midway.

Rhodes and Deaton catapulted Midway’s record to 42-4, but this season the duo will be on opposite sides of the net.

With Rhodes and Deaton both receiving heavy playing time this season, the two should collide sooner or later in the match.

Now, the Cyclones enter the monotonous part of the season. The freshness of a new season has worn off, but postseason play is still far enough away that it’s hard to get amped up for it this early.

After coaching Iowa State for over a decade, Johnson-Lynch understands how long the season is and how a team needs to stay sharp throughout it.

“This is the grind part of the season, mid to late October you don’t quite see the light at the end of the tunnel yet,” Johnson-Lynch said. “People are tired, people are beat up [and] they’re putting a lot of time in their studies.”

How can the Cyclones get over the lethargic part of the middle of a season? Johnson-Lynch attributes it to leadership. A quality that Iowa State is deep in.