ISU volleyball will play six matches at the UNI Spring Tournament. Those matches follow last weekend’s four matches at the Iowa State Spring Tournament, totaling 10 matches in two weekends.

Fatigue will play a factor in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday. Iowa State’s day will begin at 9:15 a.m. against North Dakota State and end with the last match against Iowa at 2:45 p.m.

While the players will have to deal with physical fatigue, they’re focusing on battling mental fatigue in practice to prepare for the grueling day.

“[Conditioning] is something we focus on all spring,” said middle blocker Alexis Conaway. “But I think more [important is] mentally being ready, being focused that whole time. It’s easy when you’re playing so many games to take a mental break. It’ll be a good test for us to stay strong the whole time.”

The biggest key for the Cyclones to not let mental fatigue slow them down is communication before, during and after the point to ensure that every member of the team is engaged.

It’s even more important for the young ISU liberos. The libero is the defensive anchor, and she needs to communicate at all times since she is on the court at all times.

“I think [communication] is huge for us, especially since it’s something we’ve been working on,” said freshman libero Abby Phillips. “When you communicate more, you stay more engaged, and that’s really important when you’re not feeling 100 percent.”

Iowa State will play three of the same teams it played at the Iowa State Spring Tournament: North Dakota State, South Dakota, Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois. 

The Cyclones allowed opponents to hit a combined .170 at their home spring tournament. Before the tournament, they allowed Hawaii and Creighton to hit .270 against them.

The block has been a big point of emphasis for the Cyclones this spring, and while the improvement is promising, they want to take it to another level. They believe communication will help them take it to that next level.

“It’s something we’ve been working on a lot the last couple of weeks,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “Just a lot of talk during the plays, we stay organized, our block and defense stays organized. It’s been something we’ve been working on, but as you get tired, it’s easy to let that go.”

Johnson-Lynch said she would rotate players between matches to make sure they are fresh and to give everyone an opportunity.

The players appreciate that, especially given the grind they’ve been on the last few weeks. The grind will prepare them for the fall, though.

“I think it’ll test us a lot just because it’s toward the end of spring,” Phillips said. “I know a lot of us are really pushing through the grind, and I think it’ll be really good to train for the fall and get us ready, because in the fall, it’s always a grind.”