When the ISU volleyball team travels to Madison, Wis., to take on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 5 p.m. Friday, there will be a lot of new experiences for the Cyclone players.

It is the first time they have ever played the Panthers. Even more daunting, it is the first time they have played in an NCAA tournament match, and if they lose, their season is over.

But if the players are nervous about their lack of familiarity with the situation, they can turn to their coach for help. As a player at Nebraska, the NCAA tournament was an annual event for coach Christy Johnson.

Johnson also spent eight years as an assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before coming to Iowa State, and she knows the UW Fieldhouse well.

“I have a ton of connections to Wisconsin, so going back there will be great,” Johnson said. “Madison is a great place to play, so it is going to be an awesome environment.”

As for its opponent, Iowa State will have an insider’s look at Milwaukee, despite having never played the Panthers.

ISU assistant coach Joe Lynch was a club volleyball coach in the Milwaukee area before coming to Iowa State, and as chance will have it, coached a number of the Panther players when they were in high school.

“Joe Lynch coached a lot of the Milwaukee players, so he will know a lot more than I do,” Johnson said.

“So a lot of the better players in Milwaukee, he has coached them throughout their career. So he knows a little about the team.”

The players aren’t really worrying about whom they play. All year long, the coaches have stressed that when the Cyclones play up to their ability, they can beat anybody in the nation, and the team is bringing that mindset into the tournament.

The last two matches of the regular season were great preparation for the postseason. Both went to a fifth game and gave the Cyclones a taste of the pressure they will be under in Madison and beyond.

“We have had some really intense and competitive practices that have prepared us for these long games, and I think we are as ready now as we have ever been,” said senior Katie Churm. “It’s coming at a great time, and we are really excited to continue our season.”

The Horizon League champions should prove to be a challenging matchup for the Cyclones. Wisconsin-Milwaukee is led by its two middle blockers, Horizon League Player of the Year Cheryl Hegemann and Horizon League Tournament MVP Sarah Moore.

Iowa State counters with first team all-Big 12 and Co-Defensive Player of the Year Erin Boeve and her counterpart Jessica Klein. The Cyclones have relied on the blocking of these two all season, and they plan for this match to be no different.

The past may be on Iowa State’s side. The Panthers went 1-3 against NCAA qualifying teams this season, and no current Horizon League member has ever won an NCAA tournament match.

“Christy [Johnson] said we have the luck of the draw, and we should be playing some teams that are beatable,” Churm said.

Should the Cyclones beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee, they would play the winner of the Wisconsin-Madison and Notre Dame match. That match would take place at 7 p.m. Saturday in Madison, with a trip to the Sweet 16 regional in Austin, Texas, on the line.