The bigger the game, the bigger ISU volleyball seems to play.

For Christy Johnson-Lynch and her Cyclones, the past 16 days of volleyball have meant the first win in a series history, a five-set revengeful victory at home and an upset over one of the nation’s top powerhouses.

Now it’s time for yet another crucial game — a rematch with the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 7 at Hilton Coliseum.

Just more than two weeks ago, the No. 8 Cyclones (20-3, 12-2 Big 12) traveled to Lincoln, Neb., and upset the then–No. 8 Huskers for the first time in history, breaking a 75-0 Nebraska edge.

Since then, two of the last four games for the Cyclones have been not only high points on the season, but high points for the ISU volleyball program.

The win over Baylor last week meant Iowa State had defeated all but one of the Big 12 foes the team had fallen to previously in the season, while Wednesday night’s victory over No. 2 Texas meant Iowa State had beaten every conference opponent at least once.

“I think it just gives our team continued confidence. They’ve come through time and time again. This is by far the highest ranked team we’ve ever beaten,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Ever since Johnson-Lynch has joined the Cyclone family, she has been working to ‘close the gap’ between elite programs in the country and ISU volleyball.

After a the victory in Lincoln, the five-set rally win over Baylor and the stunning upset of the Longhorns, that gap could be shut.

“I think over the years I kept saying ‘we’re closing the gap, we’re closing the gap,’ — now I think we’re even,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That gap is maybe now closed, and now I hope that people consider us one of the elite teams in the country.”

It’s clear that the word is out in Ames that Cyclone volleyball is something to watch after Hilton Coliseum was louder Wednesday night than some players had ever heard it, and fans were even sitting in the upper bowl of the Coliseum.

“It was funny, because we were talking about it before practice and I said ‘someday I want to see people having to sit on the upper ones,’” said freshman middle blocker Jamie Straube as she pointed to the upper bowl. “And I was just kidding.”

As the Cyclones battled back and fourth, point for point with the Longhorns, the crowd was there every step of the way, and if Iowa State has a similar turnout for Nebraska, the impact could be enormous.

“Having these people, having that support, it’s like they support what we live for, and it’s so great to have that,” Straube said. “You know, the extra push when we were down a couple points [against Texas] — you can feel the crowd lift us up a little bit, and it was just so cool, because we’ve had to play against that and now other teams have to worry about that.”

And the Huskers will more than likely have to worry about it, as the game is schedule for 8 p.m. so fans can head to Hilton after the football game, and tickets are selling for just a dollar each.

“All these people are watching us, and we need to play [well] for them, for ourselves and for our team,” said senior setter Kaylee Manns.

In 2007, the Iowa State-Nebraska match set a record for the biggest crowd in college volleyball in the state of Iowa at 6,705 people, and the Cyclones are promoting the event yet again with the slogan, “One match. One record. One nation.”

Since the Huskers’ loss to Iowa State, Nebraska (17-6, 10-4 Big 12) has fallen two spots in the AVCA poll, dropped a set to Oklahoma and suffered a sweep from the Longhorns.

As the two conference rivals battled just more than two weeks ago, and Iowa State has since played two other ranked opponents, the bodies on the Cyclone lineup may be exhausted, but the excitement will be the fuel for Saturday’s game.

“I really think we have this high to ride on. We’ve got the confidence to ride on. We’ve got a good feeling about it. We’ve got a couple good practices to get in,” said freshman middle blocker Jamie Straube.

Although Johnson-Lynch had a tough time fighting back her grin after the win over Texas, her poker face will be back on for the Nebraska match.

The Cyclones may have celebrated for the 16 hours after the match Wednesday night, but the celebration is over and it’s back to business for ISU volleyball.

“You can’t get too enamored with herself, because if you ever stop doing the things that got you there, if you ever stop working hard, if you ever stop being humble and realizing you still have a lot to learn, then you take steps back,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We can really enjoy this win and celebrate it until about 3 o’clock [Thursday] and then it’s back to work.”

While all this hype continues to build for Iowa State, Johnson-Lynch knows not to let the excitement distract her players from their game.

This time, instead of Nebraska, it’s Iowa State that has everything to lose.

The undefeated record at home and an 11-match winning streak are both on the line Saturday night.