Red Raiders on Tap for Cyclones

AMES, Iowa - The No. 16 Cyclones (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) get back on the road this weekend, heading south to Lubbock, Texas to face Texas Tech (13-1, 0-0) on Saturday afternoon.

Iowa State opened the conference season on Wednesday night with a straight-sets win over Missouri at Hilton Coliseum, hitting .402, the highest offensive output since playing at home against the Red Raiders last season. Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch notched her 135th win with the Cyclone victory, tying her first place with Vicki Mealer as Iowa State's winningest volleyball coach in school history.

Going into the weekend, Iowa State has swept five opponents this season and has held six teams to sub-.200 hitting.

Texas Tech, who ended last season with an overall record of 4-25 and last in the Big 12 with a 2-18 league record, are 3-0 at home this season. The Red Raiders open their conference schedule when Iowa State visits on Saturday and the Cyclones are sure to be the biggest test of the young season for the home team. The Red Raiders have not faced a team from last season's postseason tournament and only two of their foes finished last season ranked in the top 100 RPI.

In 2010, Iowa State stifled Texas Tech to .164 while hitting .351 but the Red Raiders got the best of the Cyclones at the net, out-blocking Iowa State 16-8.

Saturday's contest is set for 1 p.m. CDT at the United Spirit Arena.

Cyclone Notebook

Iowa State swept Missouri to open Big 12 play on Wednesday night. The Cyclones travel to Texas Tech on Saturday to face the 13-1 Red Raiders.
Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch tied Vicki Mealer (1985-92) with 135 wins on Wednesday, the most volleyball coaching wins in school history.
Missouri is the first of three foes Iowa State will face on ESPNU this season (vs. Texas, at Oklahoma).
The 3-0 sweep of the Tigers was the fifth straight-sets win by the Cyclones this season.
After Wednesday's win, the Cyclones are out-digging their opponents 17.28-14.67 each set.
Missouri's 12 points in the first set is the lowest point total for an ISU opponent this season.
The Cyclones blasted a .402 hitting percentage against Mizzou, the first match of .400+ hitting this season and the best offensive performance for the team since hitting .441 against Texas Tech in Ames last season.
With their .191 mark on Wednesday, Missouri became the sixth team held to sub-.200 hitting against Iowa State this season.
Of the four Big 12 teams in action on Wednesday (Oklahoma played at Baylor), Iowa State was the only team to hit over .200.
Missouri marked the first opponent the Cyclones have bested in blocks (8.5-4) since Colorado came to Hilton last season.
Senior outside hitter Carly Jenson posted her sixth double-double of the season and her second-straight double-double with a team-high 13 kills and adding 11 digs against Mizzou.
Libero Kristen Hahn's team-high 12 digs is the lowest mark of the season for the sophomore.
Hahn has posted fewer than 15 digs in each of the Cyclones' last three matches.
After going 9-for-14 with one error on Wednesday night, Kelsey Petersen broke into the top 10 in the conference in hitting, with a .333 mark for the season, ranked eighth.
Middle blocker Jamie Straube continued her hot streak against the Tigers, getting four kills on only eight swings (no errors) and picking up three block assists. Straube leads the Cyclones with 36 blocks through 12 matches.
Hahn continues to lead the league in digs this season with an average of 5.53 digs per set. Hahn has recorded at least 25 digs in three matches this season, the same number of matches that former All-American Ashley Mass had with 25 digs or more all of last season.
Hahn ranks ninth in the country in digs per set (5.65 as of Sept. 19).
Unsurprisingly, Iowa State leads the Big 12 with an average of 17.28 digs per set.
Carly Jenson ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in kills (4th, 3.78), digs (9th, 3.37) and points (6th, 4.05).

Streaks and Trends

Iowa State opponents have hit over .300 just 15 times in 203 matches under Christy Johnson-Lynch.
Iowa State went 12-1 in three set matches in 2010. Under Johnson-Lynch, Iowa State is 80-31 in three-set matches.
This year the Cyclones are 5-2 in three-set matches, losing at No. 15 UNI and No. 10 Nebraska
In true Johnson-Lynch fashion, Iowa State has out-dug nine of its opponents (NDSU twice) this season.
Iowa State has collected 20 wins for four-consecutive years under head coach Johnson-Lynch. The Cyclones have had 10 20+ win seasons since 1982.
Under Johnson-Lynch, the Cyclones have one at least one match over a top 25 opponent in each of her seven seasons.
Already this season, five players have led the Cyclones in kills during a match. Only three players ever led the team in kills in 2010.
Jamie Straube and Kelsey Petersen have tied for the most blocks in a match six times this season.

Scouting Texas Tech

The Red Raiders hold an all-time series 20-13 lead over the Cyclones.
Since Christy Johnson-Lynch took over as Iowa State coach in 2005, the Cyclones have lost only one match with Texas Tech, including the last nine meetings, for an 11-1 record.
Eight of those 11 Cyclones wins have been sweeps.
In the second match between the squads last fall, Iowa State won 3-1 in Lubbock.
The Red Raiders are 13-1 this season and 3-0 at home.
None of Texas Tech's 13 opponents (Grambling St. twice) went to the 2010 NCAA tournament and only Central Arkansas (68) and Morehead St. (95) finished 2010 ranked in the top 100 RPI.
The Cyclones hit .351 in two matches against Texas Tech in 2010 while holding the Red Raiders to a .164 mark.
Texas Tech won the 2010 series blocking battle, 16-8.
This is the first season at Texas Tech for head coach Don Flora.
Like the Cyclones, the Red Raiders lost one starter and their libero from their 2010 squad, which finished last in the Big 12 with a 4-25 overall record and went 2-18 in conference play.
Opponents are hitting just .068 against Texas Tech this season, the lowest averaged allowed by a Big 12 team.
Outside hitters Amanda Dowdy and Miara Cave have lit up the offense for Texas Tech, hitting .268 and .337, respectively. Dowdy ranks among the top 10 in the league in kills, digs and points. Cave is one of the top 10 hitters and blockers in the conference.
Texas Tech has out-blocked its foes by an average of 3.11-1.60 per set this season, collecting 140 total blocks.
Not known for its passing, Texas Tech is averaging just 14.29 digs per set, well below Iowa State's 17.28 clip that leads the league.
Three Red Raider-regulars average over one block a set, led by Mikia Mills who has an average of 1.28 blocks per set and ranks third in the conference. Teammate Aubree Piper is fourth in the league with 1.27 blocks per set and Cave comes in seventh with an average of 1.21.

Johnson-Lynch Ties Coaching Record
• Seventh-year head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch tied the Iowa State volleyball coaching record against Missouri this season, picking up win No. 135. Vicki Mealer, head Cyclones coach from 1985-92, also collected 135 wins.

Johnson-Lynch also holds the distinction of reaching 100 career wins faster than any coach in the history of the program, doing so in 157 matches.

1. Christy Johnson-Lynch (2005-) 135-69 (.662)
    Vicki Mealer (1985-92)  135-110 (.551)
3. Sharon Hitsman (1978-80)  85-80-7 (.494)
4. Mary Fischl (1981-84)  80-62-1 (.559)

Players Mentioned

Kristen Hahn

Kristen Hahn

Carly Jenson

Carly Jenson

Ashley Mass

Kelsey Petersen

Kelsey Petersen

Jamie Straube

Jamie Straube

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics