PRIMER: No. 24 Iowa State at UCF

AMES, Iowa – No. 24 Iowa State meets UCF once again this season, this time on the Knight's home court for the first time in series history. ISU took down No. 6 Arizona State and No. 18 Baylor last week to enter the AVCA Coaches Poll at No. 24 and move up to No. 19 in the RPI.

Saturday, Nov. 8, 12 p.m. CT, at UCF

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By the Numbers

1 – Morgan Brandt leads all active Big 12 players with 3,514 career assists. The total ranks fourth in program history.

2 – Rachel Van Gorp earned her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week award, becoming one of two in the league to earn multiple this season and the ninth multi-time DPOTW in program history.

3 – Christy Johnson-Lynch ranks No. 3 all time in Big 12 history with 215 league victories.

3 – Iowa State is one of three schools (Indiana, Colorado) currently in the top 20 of the RPI that finished outside the top 80 of last season's final ranking.

8 – The Cyclones ended non-conference at 10-1, the best mark in eight seasons.

10 – Iowa State ranks top 10 nationally with 14.29 kills per set, the ninth-highest average. ISU also ranks 13th nationally with 13.14 assists per set. Both averages lead the Big 12.

12 – Maya Duckworth became the 12th Cyclone in program history to hit 1,000 career kills at No. 24 Colorado and now totals 1,023.

The 2025 Cyclones

Iowa State entered the AVCA Coaches Poll at No. 24 for the first time since 2023. The last time ISU was ranked this late in the season was in 2022. Last week's two ranked wins brings Christy Johnson-Lynch's total to 47 against top 25 opponents and 12 against top 10 opponents. Johnson-Lynch is at 398 career victories.

The five-set win against ASU ended the Sun Devils' 12-match win streak and 26-match Big 12 win streak. The Baylor victory was the 14th sweep over a ranked opponent in program history and first since 2018. Iowa State is now 18-4 on the season, its best record through 22 matches since 2011.

Van Gorp continues to put the nation on notice as she had 43 digs at 5.38 per set and held BU to .134 hitting and ASU to .179 last week. Arizona State entered the match ranked second in the Big 12 hitting at .264 through the season. The libero had 25 digs in the sweep of Baylor (8.33 per set), including 12 digs in the first and 10 in the second.

Tierney Jackson led ISU with 24 kills and 29.5 points in week 10, and also put up eight blocks. Jackson tied her career high with 15 kills vs. ASU and ranks second in the Big 12 this season hitting at .367.

Freshman Reagan Hanfelt, playing in just her ninth match, had 10 kills vs. ASU for her second 10-plus match. Hanfelt had 19 kills at .417, seven blocks and three aces to total 25.5 points through the week. Hanfelt ranked 10th in the Big 12 in week 10 with the hitting percentage.

The Opponent

UCF is 13-9 overall and 4-7 in the Big 12, with conference wins vs. Cincinnati, WVU, at Houston and at No. 17 BYU. The Knights host Houston Thursday prior to hosting ISU. UCF leads the Big 12 in aces serving 1.88 per set, while also ranking top three in opponent hitting percent (0.172).

Skylar English is the national leader in aces, averaging 0.76 per set. Avah Armour is UCF's kill leader (4.48 per set) this season and earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week last week after hitting 55 kills and totaling 63 points against Houston and Texas Tech.

Next Up

Iowa State heads to Houston next for a Thursday, Nov. 13 match, and will then return home Saturday, Nov. 15 to host No. 16 TCU.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Brandt

Maya Duckworth

Reagan Hanfelt

Tierney Jackson

Rachel Van Gorp

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics