It gets to your muscles, it gets to your joints and it gets to your head.

All the veterans have seen it before.

There comes a point in every volleyball season when the ins and outs of conference play — preparation, traveling and rigorous competition two times a week — start to take a toll on the players.

More than half of the season is behind them, but a long road and some of the most crucial matches of the season still lie ahead.

“Going through injuries and being tired at practice everyday can kind of get you into a rut,” said senior libero Ashley Mass. “And without a break or a bye, you just have to work yourself through it. Practices can get long but we just have to focus and remind ourselves that we’re working toward something bigger.”

Three weeks down the calendar sits the team’s much-anticipated day off, but until then the No. 12 Cyclones (13-4, 6-3 Big 12) will face what is likely their most physically and mentally demanding stretch of the season.

A road match at Colorado (6-9, 3-6) on Wednesday is the first obstacle in an environment that presents unique challenges every year.

“It’s always a little difficult to go to Colorado,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “Serving and passing is always different elevation-wise and they usually play really well at home.”

Similar challenges faced Iowa State when it moved into its temporary home at the Ames High gymnasium, a venue that initially caused a bit of trouble with serve and pass due to the gym’s unique qualities of air flow and depth perception.

The thin air of the Rockies has presented noticeable differences in past road trips to Boulder, Colo., and the team has made a point to address it before Wednesday’s match.

“It always feels like the ball floats a lot more there in both passing and serving,” Mass said. “It’s harder to keep balls in sometimes, and it’s something we’ll work on at our pre-match practice there.”

The Buffaloes are coming off a win last week in Lubbock over Texas Tech, the only team currently below them in the Big 12 standings. That win ended their previous four-match losing streak, and much to the jealousy of the Cyclones, led the Buffaloes into a weekend that presented them with their first day off in Big 12 play. 

Like recent opponents Kansas State and Texas A&M, many new faces grace the Colorado lineup this season, making it a little more difficult to prepare for.

“[The Buffaloes] are a much improved team from last year,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They have so many newcomers. A lot of the people on the court will be ones we haven’t played before, so we may have to make adjustments on the fly.”

Significantly for Iowa State, this match will also mark its first road test since an unsettling 3-1 loss to Kansas in Lawrence on Oct. 9.

With that loss came an indication that the wear and tear on the team had begun to set in for a number of Cyclones, especially their two starting middle blockers.

In arguably the most physical demanding position on the court — due to constant jumping and lateral movement — it’s no surprise that Jamie Straube and Deb Stadick are the most banged-up players on the squad.

While both players appear to be unaffected during matches, Straube has been battling, and will continue to battle, chronic shin pains and Stadick is still recovering from a recent sprained ankle. 

Straube said that their roles in practice will be limited to allow them to rest while they have a chance, but neither is expected to miss significant time in the coming weeks. 

“We’re playing a lot of matches and don’t have a lot of rest right now,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’re at that point of the season where we really have to grind it out. We may not be 100 percent mentally and physically, but we’ve got to find a way to push through.”

The match is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. opening serve at the Coors Event Center in Boulder.