Beginning her sixth year as coach of the ISU women’s volleyball team, Christy Johnson-Lynch has become quite adept at getting her team to achieve program firsts.

Johnson-Lynch has coached Iowa State’s first three All-Americans, helped earn its first national ranking, led the Cyclones all the way to their first Sweet Sixteen in 2007 and first Elite Eight appearance in 2008.

Along with their highest preseason ranking in school history, the No. 9 Cyclones will begin their season, for the first time, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., for the Runza/AVCA Showcase.

In its 16th season as the premiere opening-weekend tournament in college volleyball, the Showcase will feature 4 of the top 15 preseason nationally ranked teams in the country, No. 2 Nebraska, No. 9 Iowa State, No. 13 Florida and No. 14 Kentucky.

“I was really excited when we got the invitation, it was something that we’ve been pushing for and hoping for,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s such a prestigious tournament, we are playing two great opponents and I think it’s a perfect opportunity for our team.”

All four teams are coming off trips to the NCAA tournament in 2009 with Iowa State, Florida and Kentucky all reaching the Sweet Sixteen and Nebraska advancing to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Texas.

The Showcase will feature four matches with both Big 12 teams squaring off against the two SEC squads. Iowa State is 7-117 all-time against top 15 ranked opponents with all seven of those wins coming in the last five seasons.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to be playing top 15 teams right away off the bat because it will be a challenge; but exciting,” said senior libero Ashley Mass.

Saturday’s play begins at 2 p.m. when the Cyclones take on the No. 13 Florida Gators. ISU volleyball fans will recognize a familiar face on the Florida sideline as former ISU coach Mary Wise begins her 20th season with the Gators.

With 603 wins to only 67 losses at Florida, Wise has helped lead the Gators to 19 consecutive 25-win seasons; the nation’s longest such streak. Wise, who went by her maiden name Fischl during her four-year tenure at Iowa State, is looking forward to taking on the Cyclones for the third time in her career and the first time since 2009.

“It will be a great opportunity for our team to play a top 10 opponent,” Wise said. “It’s going to be a measuring stick for us, and will give us a chance to see how we match up against two top teams.”

Wise is 2-0 against the Cyclones in her career at Florida with victories in 1994 and 1999, but has yet to face the team under Johnson-Lynch. Wise is preparing her team for a great defensive effort from the Cyclones, led by returning two-time All-American libero Mass.

“They should be very similar to any Christy Johnson [Lynch] coached team with lights out defense and arguably the top returning libero in the country,” Wise said.

Like the Cyclones, the Gators also return five starters and a two-time All-American in junior right-side hitter and setter Kelly Murphy. Even with the returning experience, Wise is hoping to answer a lot of questions in this first weekend in Omaha.

“There are more questions than answers with the new people on our team,” Wise said. “A lot of players are still learning our system so we will spend a lot of time focused on our side of the net.”

Iowa State will face the No. 14 Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday, who are also making their first appearance at the Showcase. The Wildcats finished last season 29-5, reaching the NCAA tournament for the fifth consecutive time under coach Craig Skinner.

Kentucky is the only team in Omaha that will not have a returning All-American on the court, but will be led by senior middle blocker Lauren Rapp and junior Becky Pavan; both named to this year’s preseason All-SEC team.

Perhaps the Cyclones’ biggest rival in the Big 12, No. 2 Nebraska, comes into the Showcase as the host and the highest-ranked team.

Although Iowa State and Nebraska won’t face off this weekend, it will be a chance for both teams to get an early glimpse at each other before their two conference matches this season.

Iowa State will host Nebraska on Sept. 15 at Ames High School in a game that will be televised on ESPNU, and then will travel to Lincoln, Neb., on Oct. 30.

Johnson-Lynch has never faced a ranked opponent in her first match of the season as the coach at Iowa State, but she believes playing in the Showcase will provide the best start possible for the 2010 campaign.

“I think every single coach that plays in a big tournament their first weekend wishes that maybe they could start with some warm-up matches, but you can’t pass up an opportunity like this,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s an opportunity to play in the Qwest Center and an opportunity to play on national TV, there’s no way we would pass that up, so we are going to embrace it and go for it.”

Both the 2 p.m. match Saturday, Aug. 28, against Florida and the 2 p.m. match against Kentucky on Sunday, Aug. 29, will be televised on the CBS College Sports Network.