UNI and Iowa State collide in the opening round of the NCAA volleyball tournament on Friday in the Twin Cities. The Panthers received their first at-large bid into the tournament and defeated the Cyclones 3-1 in their regular season matchup.

UNI coach Bobbie Peterson says it’s funny how things work out, and says ISU is a much different team than the one they met earlier this year, and says the regular season matchup will have no impact on this contest. Peterson says the NCAA Tournament is 64 teams with the same record and every team has the goal of moving forward.

The other first round matchup pits Minnesota against North Dakota State. First round winners will meet on Saturday.