For ISU volleyball coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, measuring her team’s progress means more than tallying up the win/loss columns.

Johnson-Lynch has grown adept at reading between the lines, which is especially necessary while guiding a young team. Now, beyond the halfway point of the season, she appreciates how the margins of Iowa State’s story are evolving.

The ISU volleyball team (10-7, 2-4 Big 12) suffered a gut-wrenching, five-set defeat on Oct. 18 at Texas Tech, one of numerous losses in 2014 that have been difficult for the Cyclones to stomach.

“It was heartbreaking for me because I felt in control of that fifth game and then it slipped away again,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Those are always tougher to lose.”

The Cyclones held a 2-1 lead and ran out in front of the Red Raiders for good portions of the fourth and fifth sets, but when the last whistle sounded, the Cyclones found themselves three points short of victory.

While Iowa State has seen similar circumstances play out on several occasions in its first 17 matches, the differences in the way the team is reacting to those challenges is what has Johnson-Lynch feeling upbeat.

“In the locker room afterwards, it still feels hopeful,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They are talking and encouraging each other.”

Johnson-Lynch added that the players’ faith in themselves and in the team is no longer being fostered on an individual basis, but is instead a group effort.

The Cyclones battle doubt as a united front. No one is left to silently question themselves or the team. 

Johnson-Lynch said her team’s confidence was rattled after consecutive home defeats to start the season, in which Iowa State was swept by No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Florida State.

The Cyclones then won five in a row and seven out of eight contests, gaining a considerable level of comfort with their abilities as well as with the goals they set their sights on months before.

Then came Big 12 play, and with it another two game losing streak, this time on the road at No. 3 Texas and at Texas Christian.

Senior hitter Mackenzie Bigbee said that following those two losses, she noticed a reversion in the locker room as team members again began to wonder how good they really were and what they could actually accomplish on the court.

Bigbee said that now, that has changed.

“We just take it and use it as motivation,” Bigbee said.

Junior libero Caitlin Nolan, who was described by Bigbee as the most vocal leader on the team, said that while not being discouraged by losses is good, learning from those losses is even better.

Iowa State must learn quickly, as its brutal schedule continues with a crucial home match versus No. 18 Kansas Oct. 22.

Two elements of the Texas Tech loss upon which Nolan lamented specifically were the Cyclones’ inability to stem offensive runs by the Red Raiders, as well as their inability to perform during the match’s most crucial points.

“It kind of came down to who could hit a better shot at crunch time,” Nolan said. “It is just a couple of plays here and there. We let them go on some runs and really that is the big difference between us winning and losing.”

Nolan added that those areas can be sufficiently supplemented by the team cutting down on unforced errors, which has been a focal point at practice heading into the pivotal match against the Jayhawks.

Kansas (15-5, 3-3 Big 12) has lost three times in conference play, but two of those losses have come in five sets, while the third was a four-set bout with Texas — one of the nation’s top teams.

Iowa State has been considerably better at home than on the road this season and fast starts have been key in the Cyclones’ successful endeavors inside Hilton.

Iowa State will rely on a raucous atmosphere to help flip the script from its home match against Kansas last season, which Iowa State lost in four sets.

“Volleyball is really a game of energy,” Bigbee said. “When you are at home…you can get riled up from the crowd.”

The first serve is set for 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Hilton Coliseum.