LINCOLN — Kori Cooper, the Nebraska volleyball team's only senior, never had the leisure of playing against Iowa State before coach Christy Johnson-Lynch's arrival in Ames.

And we do mean leisure. Before 2005, when the Cyclones lured Johnson-Lynch away from her job as an assistant at Wisconsin, a match against Iowa State was all but a day off for the Huskers.

“I don't really remember a time where (the Cyclones) weren't something special,” said Cooper, who came to Nebraska in 2006. “It seems like they were always kind of that quiet threat.”

That was in the past, when Cooper was an underclassman. In recent years, there's been nothing quiet or subtle about the way the Cyclones compete. Without question, the volume in the Coliseum will be at its peak tonight as the fifth-rated Huskers host No. 14 Iowa State.

The match marks the first time that the Cyclones will come to Lincoln as a ranked team. Iowa State at one point this season was 10th in the coaches' poll — its highest ranking in program history. This year's showdown also will have an impact on the conference race. Nebraska (14-4, 7-2 Big 12) and Iowa State (15-3, 7-2) are tied for second in the league standings.

Johnson-Lynch — a Millard North graduate and the starting setter on NU's 1995 national championship team — took over an ISU program that had won 10 Big 12 matches from 1997 through 2004. In 2006, Iowa State made the second round of the NCAA tournament. In 2007, the Cyclones advanced to the round of 16.

Last season, Johnson-Lynch's club reached the regional finals and came within one victory of crashing the final four in Omaha. And the coach's efforts to recruit her home state are evident this season because the Cyclones are getting contributions from Carly Jenson (Millard North), Caitlin Mahoney (Omaha Marian), Kelsey Petersen (Kearney High) and Jamie Straube (Tecumseh).

“When I first got here, and we played a team like a Nebraska or a Minnesota or a Texas that was in the top 10, we were kind of like deer in the headlights,” said Johnson-Lynch, whose team has won six straight matches since its back-to-back losses against Texas and Baylor. “Now we're starting to gain that confidence that comes with success. Now our team is starting to believe — especially after last season — that we can play with those teams.”

The Huskers are 74-0 all-time against the Cyclones. But that run of dominance appears in jeopardy. And if it doesn't end tonight, it could end Nov. 7 when the teams meet in Ames.

But Johnson-Lynch doesn't want her players getting wrapped up in that history. And the coach said there's no question that the Huskers appear to be a much more dangerous club than they were a month ago.

Nebraska has gained a good amount of momentum while winning its past five matches, and part of the improvement has been tactical. The streak has coincided with outside hitters Tara Mueller and Hannah Werth switching spots in NU's rotation — a subtle tweak that has reduced some of Werth's passing responsibilities. Since the change, Werth has flourished as an attacker and has led the team in kills five contests in a row.

Nebraska coach John Cook said there's no denying that the Huskers as a team have started to find some swagger.

“That confidence has been restored. It's going to get tested (against Iowa State), but I certainly like where we're at right now as opposed to four weeks ago,” Cook said. “You can just see it in their faces and their body posture and the way they're acting.

“They're a much more confident group now.”

Off the court, upperclassmen such as Cooper, Mueller, setter Sydney Anderson and Kayla Banwarth held meetings, did some soul-searching and now better understand their individual roles as leaders.

On the court, Anderson has started connecting well with middle blockers Cooper and Brooke Delano. In addition to Werth's improved play, Banwarth has become a big factor at the libero position and is averaging close to six digs per set during the winning streak. And the Huskers have cut down drastically on the unforced errors that plagued them in late September.

Cooper said it does feel like the Huskers are rolling.

“And sometimes that can be a dangerous thing,” she said. “Coach Cook always says that complacency will come to collect, so we definitely want to avoid that.

“We just need to continue practicing and playing with a sense of urgency. If we can hold on to that, I think we'll see continued success.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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