PRIMER: Cyclone Invite

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State caps week three hosting its home opening tournament meeting Saint Louis and Omaha. ISU looks to bounce back after facing its first loss of the season at UNI.

Friday, Sept. 12, 6:30 p.m., vs. Saint Louis

Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets | Media Center | Notes

ESPN+: PxP Evan Wessling, Analyst Abby Altman

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2 p.m., vs. Omaha

Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets | Media Center | Notes

ESPN+: PxP Evan Wessling, Analyst Henry Gonzalez

By the Numbers

1 – Brandt leads all active Big 12 players with 2,902 career assists. The total ranks eighth in program history.

1 – Duckworth stands one double-figure kill match away from entering the ISU top 10, currently totaling 52 through her career.

3 – Christy Johnson-Lynch ranks T-No. 3 all time in Big 12 history with 207 league victories.

5 – Iowa State hit at .333 or better in the first five matches of the season. The last time ISU had a stretch of five-straight .300 matches happened in in 1992.

Promotions

Friday is the Camper Reunion match, Cyclone Volleyball camp participants can request up to three general admission tickets by emailing carlya@iastate.edu. Sunday is Sunday Funday, ice cream from the ISU Creamery will be given away to students. Students can access their tickets to all matches here.

The 2025 Cyclones

Iowa State opened the season at 5-0 without losing a set before falling at UNI, 1-3. ISU was one of the three final teams nationally to begin with 15 set wins. It marked the first time in program history the Cyclones opened a season with a 15-0 set record.

ISU hit over .400 in three-straight matches (vs. Ohio, CMU, MKE), marking the first time the Cyclones have done so in program history. Iowa State had two top 10 all-time single-match hitting percentages in one day, first against CMU hitting at 0.462 (No. 7 ISU) before hitting at .457 (No. 9 ISU) at Milwaukee. The Cyclones are hitting at 0.372 on the season, the top hitting percentage in the nation.

The Opponents

Iowa State and Saint Louis last met in 2022, where Iowa State reverse swept the Billikens on their home court. The match saw the second set extend to score of 39-37. ISU leads the all-time series 4-2, with SLU's wins coming in 1980 and 1981. SLU went undefeated this past weekend at their Billiken Invite, and have one loss on the season to Valparaiso. Ellie Rink is SLU's leader in kills with 73, and is the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week. The Billikens also rank fifth nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.111).

ISU and Omaha meet for the first time in two seasons, and the Cyclones currently hold a five-match win streak vs. the Mavericks. Omaha travels to Ames for the first time since 2021. This season, Omaha also faced Milwaukee and swept the Panthers twice. Omaha then lost to LSU, Houston and San Diego State at Houston. Kali Jurgensmeier averages nearly five kills per set for the Mavericks and ranks 11th nationally with 4.75 per set.

Next Up

Iowa State faces a pair of Big Ten opponents next week on the road, meeting Iowa for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series in Coralville Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. ISU then heads to the Illinois Tournament to meet Eastern Illinois and Illinois Sept. 19-20.

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