It’s that time of year again — Cy-Hawk volleyball time. 

The Cyclones, who traveled more than 1,000 miles last weekend to compete in Virginia, have a much less taxing schedule this weekend as they head to Iowa City to play in the Comfort Suite Challenge hosted by the Hawkeyes.

“It is Iowa,” said outside hitter Natalie Vondrak. “We got to beat them.”

Iowa State is coming off a weekend in which they went 2-1 at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va. During the tournament, the Cyclones saw an increase in offensive production, which if they can sustain will come in handy against the Hawkeyes.

“Our passing was a lot more crisp, and just our overall offensive ability was improved,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Last year at Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones defeated the Hawkeyes in three sets to win the Cy-Hawk rivalry game. This time around, though, the Cyclones will be not have the luxury of home-court advantage.

However, Iowa State is currently 4-0 under Johnson-Lynch while playing Iowa at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

And although the Cyclones swept the Hawkeyes last year, this season’s version of the in-state rivalry might last more than three sets.

“They are a better team this year compared to past Iowa teams,” said senior libero Caitlin Nolan.

Nolan went on to note that Iowa has a strong slide attack, one of the hardest attacks in volleyball to execute. In simple terms, a slide attack is when the setter and the attacker make a late read on the blocker and then attempt to fake the defense out by changing the direction of the attack at the last moment.

The team also needs to focus on winning instead of playing not to lose like it did against Virginia last weekend.

The Hawkeyes are not the only team the Cyclones will face this weekend. Iowa State will also take on No. 25 Texas A&M and the Milwaukee Panthers, the Horizon League preseason favorites.

The Aggies are one of the top hitting teams in the nation, ranking No. 34 in the country with a .269 hitting percentage.

“[Texas A&M] has great outsider hitters that just make plays,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Not only will the hitting percentage be a factor in the Texas A&M match, but Iowa State’s ability to combat the slide attack will be an area to watch in all three matches during the challenge.

“Our main focus this week is playing against the slide attack,” Vondrak said. “And just being very sound defensively.”

Iowa State will kick off the challenge facing Texas A&M at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Carver Hawkeye Arena. The Cyclones will then play the Hawkeyes at 8 p.m. Friday, and the Panthers at 4 p.m. Saturday.