Iowa State volleyball readies for first-round NCAA tournament matchup with Hawai’i

AMES — Iowa State middle hitter Alexis Engelbrecht began her Cyclone volleyball career in 2020 — the so-called “COVID year.”

Three seasons later, the productive senior leader from Cary, N.C., finds herself leading a youthful team into its third straight NCAA tournament appearance.

So Engelbrecht’s seen it all in her four seasons with the seventh-seeded Cyclones (20-9), who will face unseeded, but talented Hawai’i (23-8) in Thursday’s 7 p.m. first-round matchup in Eugene, Ore. The winner will take on host Oregon, a No. 2 seed, or Southeastern Louisiana at 9 p.m. Friday.

“I’m so excited,” Engelbrecht said. “I feel more confident in the team this year than I have ever before. I think this is the team that could really make it far. We can get to the Sweet 16. We can get to the Elite Eight. I’m just so pumped.”

Fellow senior Annie Hatch concurred.

“Amen,” she said.

The Cyclones haven’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since 2012, but their underclassman-rich roster led by Big 12 freshman of the year Nayeli Gonzalez posted three top-25 wins this season — the most recent coming at No. 21 Houston.

“We’ve had to win against teams that were veteran,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, who has led her team to 16 of its 17 NCAA tournament appearances. “Win against teams that have four or five ‘COVID’ seniors. We’ve had to play against experienced teams and I think that’s been huge for us, for our young players to learn on the fly and play really high-level ball all season.”

Engelbrecht, Hatch and Jordan Hopp are the only seniors on the Cyclones’ roster. There’s also one junior along with several sophomores and freshmen. So the future is bright, but the present is rife with opportunities, too.

“Nayeli is obviously the newest addition and she’s an amazing player and has had a huge impact,” Engelbrecht said of Gonzalez, who also earned first-time All-Big 12 honors. “So watching her learn how to be kind of that consistent player for us — because that’s one of the hardest things, is to play at a high level all the time.

“So it’s been really interesting watching her and I think a lot of it has just been (about) how good of leaders and how good of teammates can we be for them.”

The seniors also have tried to be a steadying influence for the younger players; helping them stay calm in stressful situations.

“You kind of learn how to ride the wave of up and down because volleyball’s super up and down, momentum shifts and stuff like that,” Hatch said. “So I think just learning how to deal with that helps you share with the younger players a lot.”

The next step entails sharing in a tournament win. Getting one is never easy. Getting two or more becomes much more difficult.

“It’s a rare season when we felt like the first round was gonna be an easy match,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s always hard.”

Comments: robgray18@icloud.com