The ISU volleyball team has had a bitter taste in its mouth since the last time it hosted Nebraska. 

The then-eighth-ranked Cyclones were swept (25-16, 25-22, 25-23) by the Cornhuskers, who sat just two spots behind the Cyclones in the national rankings.

Getting swept by the same team in the NCAA Regional semifinals didn’t do anything to ease the pain. 

“I think we worried too much about the other side of the net, and we didn’t play for ourselves,” said sophomore middle blocker Jamie Straube. “We didn’t play our style of volleyball.”

This year there will be a change of scenery.

No. 11 Iowa State (7-1) will open conference play against rival No. 4 Nebraska (8-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ames High School.

“Nebraska is a pretty formidable opponent, and it’s going to be a big match,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, a former Cornhusker.

Johnson-Lynch expressed a sense of optimism when asked about the temporary relocation of the team’s home matches from Hilton Coliseum to Ames High School.

“I think the atmosphere will be very similar [to the Sept. 8 match with Northern Iowa]. We’re just going to see a much taller and very physical opponent, and that’s what we have got to prepare for,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I’m not so much worried about the crowd in that environment, and I think we’ll be fine there.”

The Cornhuskers are fresh off a five-set comeback against previously-undefeated Illinois after digging themselves into an 0-2 hole early against the Fighting Illini. Junior middle blocker Brooke Delano led the Huskers past the then-third-ranked Illinios with a career-best 15 kills with a .406 hitting percentage, averaging almost three kills per set. Delano leads the team in kills this season with 96.

Nebraska is famous for its “6-2” formation, which has three hitters in each rotation of players. Finding an answer to Nebraska’s 6-2 setup has been the biggest task for Johnson-Lynch.

“We’re a team that likes to commit on certain players, put two blockers against their better hitters. Well, with Nebraska you can’t do that, because they always have three pretty good hitters up at the net,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That’s going to be a big problem for us, to try and figure out how we can put our blockers against their best hitters but not give up too much to the other hitters on the team.”

Senior outside hitter Victoria Henson has been the standout player on offense for the cardinal and gold this year, leading the team in kills with 113 while averaging 4.19 kills per set.

“I think what [Henson is] doing this year that maybe she’s never done before is take the so-so sets and the bad sets and find a way to get kills from them,” Johnson-Lynch said. “In years past, I always felt like it had to be a pretty good set for her to be able to look explosive and get on it, but now she’s able to get to the set that maybe isn’t perfect [and] still be explosive, still hit it high and still kill that ball.”

Carly Jenson has shined in place of Rachel Hockaday, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury in the Cyclones’ first match of the season.

“I’ve just tried to stay consistent as I’m out there,” Jenson said. “I’ve tried to have the right mind-set going into every game, trying to prepare the right way and try to be there for my team every game.”

Jenson, a junior outside hitter, is tied with sophomore middle blocker Straube for second-most kills with 72. The Omaha, Neb., native is also tied with junior Caitlin Mahoney for most service aces this season with six.

As far as preventing the past from repeating itself, Straube said last year’s match against Nebraska at home has taught the team how to avoid making the same mistakes.

“I think we learned a lot from that, and we learned that we need to take care of our side of the net,” Straube said.