Iowa State has the opportunity to make history on Oct. 3 by securing the first road win against Texas in ISU volleyball history.

Iowa State has gotten four wins against Texas ever, all at home. The team will need a well-rounded statistic line, similar to the Oklahoma match on Sept. 30, to return from Texas with a victory.

“I think [the win against Oklahoma is] huge, especially winning a game on the road,” said Alexis Conaway, sophomore middle blocker. “This will help our confidence going into Texas this weekend.”

The confidence should prove useful, especially considering Iowa State has won only one of the last 10 matches against Texas in the past five seasons.

“Texas is so physical that if our team is predictable, we’ll have no options on the court,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We need to do a great job in passing the ball to our setters, so we can’t be blocked.”

The statistics that Iowa State showed against Oklahoma on Sept. 30 is what it needs against No. 3 Texas.

There were four players that recorded over 10 kills in the match: Conaway (17), Morgan Kuhrt (17), Jess Schaben (10) and Samara West (10). Out of those four, all of them except Schaben had a hitting percentage over .400.

On the defensive side, Caitlin Nolan and Monique Harris took control with assists and digs. Nolan had 33 digs, and Harris had 10 digs as well as 58 assists in the match. Iowa State will need these types of assist numbers to be successful against the blockers of Texas.

*Most digs in a 3, 4 and 5 set match. *Most digs in a non-con match *Most digs in a Big 12 match #LiberoU pic.twitter.com/Y7qBxE4QT2

— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) October 1, 2015

“If we can ball handle and serve tough [we can] get them out of rhythm,” Nolan said. “Obviously, [Texas] will get their kills and blocks because they’re huge, but if we can minimize it as much as possible, that’s the goal.”

Texas has a tall frontline filled with 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-4 outside hitters and middle blockers that can make it a nightmare for opponents. Texas is ranked 31st in the NCAA with 2.59 blocks per set as a team and is sixth in hitting percentage at .297.

Head Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has emphasized the point of focusing on Iowa State’s side of the court and being defensive-minded. She thinks that if the team can get consistent digs and perfect passing to lead to assists and kills, Iowa State has a good chance of winning for the first time.

Nolan is excited for the freshmen to experience the atmosphere at Texas, one of the favorites to win the Big 12, and see the reaction.

But the team is confident that it can win against the powerhouse.

“This team is capable of beating Texas during the regular season,” said Hannah Bailey, freshman right side hitter. “And if we beat Texas, we have a great chance of winning the Big 12 championship this season.”