ISU swimming and diving hopes to bounce back against the University of Northern Iowa and West Virginia following its second loss in a road dual this season.

UNI swimming coach Doug Humphrey, a former swimmer under ISU coach Kelly Nordell at Nebraska, will lead his team into Ames to take on Iowa State in the first matchup of this weekend’s home stand.

ISU coach Duane Sorenson spoke specifically on UNI’s upgraded program.

“UNI is much improved from where they were last year and two years ago,” Sorenson said. “We have to be on our game. They have improved a lot under Doug Humphrey, so we are looking for a good meet.”

ISU coach Kelly Nordell also complimented her former swimmer’s program.

“Doug is doing a great job with the UNI program,” Nordell said. “They definitely have some strengths, so we’re going to have to be ready to go. He’ll have them sharp and ready to compete against us. Some people may swim second and third events, but we still need to be ready to compete because they will be.”

ISU coach Sorenson also broke down the UNI matchup.

“They are strong in all of the events,” Sorenson said. “In the past, they have had half the events covered. This year they have a good swimmer in every event. Some events they have two really good swimmers.”

ISU diving coach Jeff Warrick was happy with the events a couple of his divers put together at Illinois as ISU holds back-to-back duals.

“Julie [Dickinson] had a really good meet,” Warrick said. “She went in there and had a really solid performance on three-meter and came back and won one-meter. She had a really nice showing there. Elyse [Brouillette] stepped up on one-meter too, so it was good to see that from them.”

An interesting competitor in UNI diver Jessica Misra meets the ISU diving team in the well at Beyer Hall.

“They have a strong team,” Warrick said. “One of their current divers is a former Ames diver and came up through our club, and she always dives well against us so we have to be ready. It’s a good competition and we are really looking forward to it.”

West Virginia is making its first trip to Ames for the Cyclones final home dual of the season and senior day.

“West Virginia is going to be a barnburner, because West Virginia got beat by TCU, who we barely beat so that’s going to be a great meet with them,” Sorenson said.

Nordell threw in her final words on what will be the final dual event of the season at home for her team.

“We have a healthy competitiveness with West Virginia,” Nordell said. “They too have a good distance program. They have good 200-flyers. They brought in a good freshman backstroker and good sprinters. So just all around, I think it’s going to be a very competitive meet and it may come down to the wire.”

ISU swimming and Diving takes on UNI at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 at Beyer Hall, and Senior Day for West Virginia begins at 10 a.m. Jan. 24.