Volleyball: Cyclones amped for Stanford challenge

Nebraska and Texas.

Been there, done that.

So to say the Iowa State's volleyball team's pumped for a shot at tradition-rich Stanford in Friday's NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal at Berkeley, Calif., would almost qualify as an understatement.

“I've always wanted to play a Penn State, a Stanford,” said two-time Big 12 libero of the year Kristen Hahn, a former Kennedy star. “Growing up, in high school, those are the big times. Now we're one of the big times going up against them.”

ISU (22-7) is one of seven teams to have reached at least the Sweet 16 for five times in the past six seasons.

The 15th-seeded Cyclones own wins this season over the then-No. 1 Cornhuskers and then-No. 3 Longhorns this year and hope to eventually reach the Final Four of the first time.

The Cardinal (29-3) are seeded No. 2 and crave a seventh national title.

“It's a very big deal,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, whose team came back to win grueling five-set matches against Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne and North Carolina to advance to the regionals. “They've won a lot of national championships. They get the best recruiting classes every year. It's exactly what you would think it is. They're that good and they're physical.”

Especially in the middle, she added.

“So if they pass the ball to their setter and they can set their middles any time they want, it's going to be very difficult for us,” Johnson-Lynch said. “If we can get that setter off the net and she's forced to set other people, at least the matchup will be better for us that way.”

Either way, the challenge excites her players.

Some have never been to California.

One - backup setter Jenelle Hudson - hails from San Diego.

All hope to make waves in a regional outside the Midwest for the first time in recent memory.

“Now I think everyone's more relaxed, more confident,” senior setter Alison Landwehr said. “Now we get to be the underdogs and that's our favorite - just going in there and trying to do as much as we can.”

How much is that?

“I know I lot of people are saying Stanford's just going to breeze by us,” Hahn said. “We're going to prove them wrong. We're going to be the underdogs so, obviously, we have nothing to lose. And like we've said before, a team that has nothing to lose is always the most dangerous.”

The Cyclones - who have won a school record 12 straight matches - experienced that dynamic from the other side last weekend in Ames.

It proved to be an eye-opening, if sweaty-palmed, experience.

“I think it was just a lot of nerves,” Johnson-Lynch said. “But we found a way to do it.”