A silence fell over West Cyde Wings as the NCAA Volleyball Tournament selection show began. When the noise picked up again, a mixed reaction was felt by all in attendance.

Iowa State received a No. 7 overall seed in the tournament and will host the first two rounds of matches, but was placed in a difficult bracket.

“It’s pretty big; you’ve got to be pretty good to host,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “I think it’s a reflection of a team that has worked hard all season.”

While the Cyclones were happy about hosting, they weren’t as excited when they found out they were placed with Big 12 rivals Texas, Nebraska and Texas A&M in the Omaha region.

“This is a brutal region,” said ESPN analyst Karch Kiraly. “Big 12 fans have to be disappointed that four of their teams are packed in one region.”

Johnson-Lynch agreed with Kiraly, but also acknowledged the fact that not all of the teams will be new opponents.

“I’m a little disappointed that they chose to put the three best teams in one of the best conferences in the country in the same region,” Johnson-Lynch said. “There’s always some things you might not agree with or you’re surprised by, but those are teams we’ve played and at least we’re going to be familiar with them.”

While the team wasn’t thrilled with the results, it remains positive because of the six matches it has played against some of its possible opponents.

“I think everyone’s a little bummed because we were looking forward to playing some new teams,” said freshman middle blocker Jamie Straube. “But at the same time we’ve beat these teams before and we know we can beat them again which is definitely a good feeling.”

If Iowa State and Nebraska get past their first two matches, a third match between the teams will take place in Omaha on either Dec. 11 or 12. The two teams split their regular-season match-ups and know each other very well at this point.

“You can pick your poison and play teams you don’t know or teams you know well,” said sophomore middle blocker Debbie Stadick. “We’re going to be playing teams we know well and we know we can beat them, so we’re just going to have to be ready to go.”

Hosting the first two rounds in Ames has been a goal for the team all season. With the Cyclones are sporting a 10-1 record at Hilton Coliseum this season, home-court advantage should factor in the opening rounds.

“It’s awesome our fans are going to be here to support us,” said senior setter Kaylee Manns. “It’s going to be nice to be at home with school and everything, too; it will be so nice.”

The Cyclones’ first opponent will be George Mason at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Hilton Coliseum. The Patriots finished the season 23-8 and found their way to the tournament by defeating Virginia Commonwealth to win the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

No. 22 Saint Louis (22-7) of the Atlantic 10 and the Missouri Valley Conference’s Wichita State (25-6) are the other teams traveling to Ames on at-large bids.