It’s just another home match at Hilton Coliseum.

At least that’s how the players and coaches of the ISU volleyball team are treating it. 

“I think everything is the same in terms of how we prepare,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “There’s just a little bit more excitement in the air. A little more buzz and energy at practice.”

Regardless of how the team approaches its opening-round bout of the NCAA tournament against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it’s not just another match. 

Everything is pointing toward something that could be special: three All-Big 12 players, the Big 12 Libero of the Year, the highest RPI in school history and drawing the No. 4 seed in the entire tournament giving the team home-court advantage at Hilton. 

“It means a lot [to play at Hilton],” Johnson-Lynch said. “As our program has grown, so has our fan base. When I first started here, we had 650 people a night. Now we are at about 2,500 people a night. It’s been very gratifying for me to see the fans come along for the ride.

“They’ve made Hilton a very tough place for opponents to play. That crowd puts pressure on opponents, so they are as much a part of our wins and our success as anything.”

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (25-4, 16-0 Horizon League) is considered one of those dangerous small-conference teams, led by Horizon League Coach of the Year Susie Johnson and Horizon League Player of the Year Kerri Shuh. 

The Panthers are not a juggernaut offensively, but dominate teams with their defense. They only hit on a .221 clip as a team, but held opponents to a league-best .152 hitting percentage.

They also boasted three of the conference’s top five blockers on their front line: sophomore Rachel Neuberger with 1.17 per set, senior Mackenzie Millis with 1.12 and Shuh, a senior, with 1.03. 

“I think blocking and defensively they’re very good,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They do some things creatively with their offense that we don’t see a lot. They move their hitters around quite a bit, so that’s something we haven’t had to prepare for a lot.”

After last year’s upset five-set loss to Creighton, the entire team knows it can’t let that happen again. 

“The biggest thing we talked about as a staff is trying to pace ourselves a little bit better,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Not that we’re not banged up, but I think our legs are a little bit fresher, I think our jumps are a little bit better than they were last year.”

Senior Carly Jenson said that last year the team might’ve been exposed to food poisoning before the match against Creighton last year. She said that 22 of the 29 people traveling with the team became ill after the loss to the Blue Jays. 

“I think as we were playing it started hitting us,” Jenson said. “Caitlin [Mahoney] didn’t even play after the first game because she was so sick.”

Not that a scenario like that is likely to happen again, but Jenson assures that they’re not taking any chances.

“We can eat our own food this year,” Jenson said with a smile on her face.

The first serve of the No. 4 Cyclones’ sixth-straight NCAA tournament appearance is set for 7:30 p.m.