Three times this season the ISU volleyball team has hopped on an airplane at Ames Municipal Airport to make the more-than-700 mile journey to Texas.

Three times, the team has returned without a victory.

So far this season the Cyclones have gone south to take on Texas Christian, Texas and Texas Tech. Though the frequent flyer miles are stacking up quickly, the long trips can weigh on the team’s energy.

“I think there’s something to that,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “It’s a long flight. It’s a long day — by the time you get there, you practice [and] you go to bed late, it makes for a long day.”

Right side hitter Mackenzie Bigbee echoed Johnson-Lynch’s thought process and added that the traveling can impact the Cyclones’ mindset.

“It can definitely play a factor,” Bigbee said. “I think it [affects] our mentality and how well we start [a match]. As I’ve said before, it kind of takes us a while to get going in the beginning of games.”

To combat mental fatigue on the road, Johnson-Lynch always has the team travel a day prior to the match so the Cyclones can practice in their opponent’s facility.

While to the common observer this may not seem important, everything from the lighting in the arena to the color of the ceiling can impact a player’s preparation to hit the ball.

“In volleyball a lot of the arenas are different,” Bigbee said. “In one, the serve can have more float than another. Getting there the night before and practicing really just helps you familiarize with the arena and the lighting.”

To libero Caitlin Nolan, the matches in the Lone Star State are ones she looks forward to.

Nolan hails from Southlake, Texas, a suburb 30 minutes northwest of Dallas. Because Ames is so far away, her family does not get to see her play often.

Whenever Iowa State makes the trek back to her home state, though, Nolan gets to put on a show for her family.

“I don’t ever get tired of going to Texas because my family gets to go to all of the games,” Nolan said with a smile. “Yeah, the traveling is tough, but I guess you can’t really think about it, you just kind of have to move on.”

Though the hours onboard the planes add up fast and take a toll on the Cyclones, road trips are the nature of the beast.

While the players acknowledged the difficulties that come with long road trips, Johnson-Lynch said that perhaps Texas just happens to correlate with losses for Iowa State this year.

“I think I’ve been a part of enough seasons that we tend to be pretty good on the road, so I think I have to chalk it up to coincidence,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I hope Texas isn’t a bad luck state for us this year, but there’s certainly something to playing on the road and those long travel days.”