The No. 4 seed ISU volleyball team is in its fourth Sweet 16 in the past six years.

The Cyclones (24-5, 13-3 Big 12) face No. 13 seed Minnesota at its home stadium, the Sports Pavilion, at 7 p.m. Friday in Minneapolis. 

“We learned not to take anything for granted last year. We had advanced to the Sweet 16 three years in a row and had gotten used to it a little bit,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “We learned from last year you can’t take that for granted. You’ve got to continue to work hard and be ready for every match in the NCAA tournament.”

Iowa State hasn’t faced Minnesota since 2009, when the Golden Gophers managed a win in a hard-fought five-set match. In 2008, the Cyclones defeated the Gophers in five sets as well. The difference that time was that it was to advance to the Sweet 16. 

The five-set matches have been a theme as seven of the last eight matches have gone to five sets.

The Gophers are led this year by All-Big Ten outside hitter Ashley Wittman. Wittman is only a sophomore and former Gatorade High School National Player of the Year in volleyball.

During the regular season, Wittman averaged 4.51 kills per set on offense. She showed her versatility by contributing on defense as well, where she is third on the team in blocks and in digs.

“Wittman is a great outside go-to for them,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s not a secret what they do well. They’ve got a lot of offensive weapons and are a solid all-around team and are very athletic.”

Jamie Straube has led the Cyclones into the Sweet 16 this year. With the focus of other teams on slowing down All-Big 12 outside hitter Carly Jenson, numerous one-on-ones have allowed Straube to capitalize.

In the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament against UW-Milwaukee and No. 25 Miami, Straube hit a .529 clip while amassing 27 kills. She’s also led the Cyclones defensively in the tournament averaging 1.17 blocks per set in the tournament. 

Straube isn’t the only one excelling on defense. The Cyclones as a team are playing some of the best defense they’ve played all season.

In the first two matches of the tournament, Iowa State has held its two opponents to an average hitting percentage of .125 and have only allowed two hitters over .350.

Most notably, Miami’s Lane Carico, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, was held to a .000 hitting percentage after having seven kills and seven errors on 35 attempts. 

“I think we’ve become known for our blocking defense,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Statistically, if you look at our numbers, that’s something we take pride in and something we do pretty well. So we hope we can do that pretty well tomorrow night.”

It’s hard not to see that the Gophers are a similar team to the Cyclones. 

Much like Iowa State, Minnesota boasts two players with at least .85 blocks per set, have a strong libero in Jessica Grandquist — who is second in the Big Ten in digs per set — and have a go-to outside hitter in Ashley Wittman.

The Cyclones will be leaving their home venue and Hilton Magic behind to play at the Gophers’ home venue. The Cyclones are 13-3 on the road this season.

Even though the Gophers boast a home record just above .500, they have a little magic of their own. In the second round against Washington, Minnesota stormed back from an 0-2 deficit to win in a five-match set. 

“I think the Gophers are pretty good at home; just looking at their record I think they’ve been very, very tough at home this year,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’ve been able to play really well on the road this year and that’s what we’re hoping for tomorrow night, to have another great road match.”

In this postseason, the Cyclones have been a little banged up, but have managed to get through it. Freshman outside hitter Victoria Hurtt and senior right-side hitter Kelsey Petersen both have battled knee injuries.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Johnson-Lynch said when asked about her team’s health. “We’re not ideal, but I don’t think any team in the country is ideal at this point. They were all able to get some practices in and get some pretty good reps in and I expect them to play this weekend.”

The Sweet 16 match is set to take place at the Sports Pavilion, with first serve at 7 p.m.