MADISON, Wis. – Two weeks ago, the ISU volleyball team was not even sure it would make it into the NCAA Tournament.

But Saturday, the Cyclones (19-13) swept seventh-seeded Wisconsin (26-5) on the Badgers’ home floor (30-28, 30-25, 30-24) to reach the round of 16 for the first time in program history.

Coach Christy Johnson said the team’s success depended on just one thing learned over the season.

“Our team has learned how to fight,” Johnson said. “We have been really good at coming back in matches, whether it is down 10 points or down games.”

Senior Lauren Cummings said Johnson has impressed on the team that they need to believe they can win every match.

“We have to believe every match that we go into – no matter what they’re ranked, no matter who they are – that we can win,” Cummings said. “Wisconsin is a great team, but that just proved what we can do.”

The Cyclones fell behind, 19-11, early in game one against the Badgers. Five kills from senior Lauren Cummings, however, spearheaded a 12-4 run to tie the game at 23, and Iowa State rode to a 30-28 win that was punctuated with a kill from redshirt freshman Victoria Henson.

“We were down pretty big in that first game, and you never would have known it looking at our faces and our body language,” Johnson said. “They had faith that it would turn around.”

Iowa State carried that energy through the match, taking advantage of several Wisconsin errors in game two and using a pair of 5-point runs in the third game to finish off the match. The win is the Cyclones’ highest-ever over a ranked opponent and is their third-straight victory over a nationally ranked team.

Cummings, who led Iowa State with 11 and 14 kills against Wisconsin, respectively, had trouble describing her feelings over the victory, but was clearly pleased.

“I can’t describe the feeling right now,” Boeve said. “It’s overwhelming, and we’re really looking forward to coming back here.”

Senior Erin Boeve was similarly inarticulate in describing the feat the team accomplished.

“I’m so speechless I don’t what to do,” Cummings said. “We really worked hard this year, and it’s showing off right now.”

The Cyclones took three straight games from a team that knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament in the same fashion last season. Wisconsin had only lost two matches at the UW Fieldhouse over the entire season, but was swept for the first time since another Big 12 team, Texas, knocked them out of the tournament in 2006.

Wisconsin coach Pete Waite, who coached with Johnson while she was there, said the Cyclones’ defense took his team completely out of its system.

“This is certainly not a position we expected to be in,” Waite said. “It is very uncharacteristic of us to be off our game at a time like this, but give Iowa State credit – they played really well tonight.”

The Cyclones held Wisconsin to a season-low .128 hitting percentage, hitting .211 themselves, and only allowed one Badger player into double-figure kills. The Cyclones also served six aces – a season high for Wisconsin’s opponents.

The Cyclones, however, may not have been in the second round had they not made two huge comebacks in their opening round five-game match against the San Diego Toreros.

Iowa State was down a game and losing, 24-16, before ending game two of that match on a 15-5 run to tie the match at one game. The Cyclones won game three running away, but the Toreros (21-8) fought back to tie the match and take a 13-10 lead in the deciding game.

Boeve, who had struggled most of the night, went to work with two kills and teamed up on a block with Cummings to help take a 14-13 lead. San Diego staved off one game point but, on the next one at 15-14, the Cyclones ended the match with a block from junior Jen Malcom and freshman Rachel Williams.

Iowa State will now take on 10th-seeded California at 5 p.m. Friday back in Madison. The Cyclones and Bears will be playing each other for the first time.