It was midway through the second game when enough players from the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State went to the net that the officials could have selected a player from either team for the violation and heard squawking because of the call.

But as was the case this Saturday night at the UW Field House, the No. 8 Badgers were not going to get the benefit of the doubt, probably because they did nothing to merit it.

So after senior setter Jackie Simpson was tagged with the call that gave the Cyclones a 17-13 lead, she turned to those in the stands who braved the snowstorm and mouthed:  "What the heck is going on?"

Not too long after that, as those in the announced crowd of 2,025 made their way back into the wintry night, all except those wearing Cyclones red probably muttered:  "What the heck just went on?"

The Badgers saved their worst match of the season for their last match of the season, losing 30-28, 30-25, 30-24 in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Iowa State.

That means when the Badgers (26-5) play host to next weekend's NCAA regional at the Field House, the host team will be watching the Cyclones and Nebraska from the Big 12 Conference, California from the Pacific-10 Conference and fellow Big Ten Conference competitor Michigan State.

The Cyclones (19-13) were everywhere, outhitting the Badgers (.211 to .128), outdigging them (52 to 49) and outserving them (six aces to five) to complete the first three-game sweep of the Badgers this season. While those numbers may not look dramatically different, the Cyclones' timing was impeccable.

"This is certainly not a position we expected to be in," UW coach Pete Waite said. "It's very uncharacteristic of us to have a hitting percentage like that and being off our game in a critical match like this."

It was the Badgers' first loss in the second round of the tournament since 2003, and their first home loss in the tournament since 2002.

"We have a lot of momentum going for us," said Cyclones coach Christy Johnson, a former assistant to Waite who is in her third year at Iowa State. "Our team has learned to fight."

That was apparent in the first game, when the Badgers built a 19-11 lead and appeared on their way to an easy victory.

But as the Cyclones demonstrated in their come-from-behind victory over San Diego in the first round, they are never out of it. Not only did they outscore the Badgers 19-9 down the stretch of the opening game, they took control of the second game at 16-13 and never saw that lead dwindle.

The Badgers looked so out of synch that Waite had his leading hitter, Brittney Dolgner, on the sidelines when the Cyclones took a 13-10 lead and she didn't return until Iowa State was up 28-22.

"Their middle blockers forced me to hit some shots that I'm not comfortable with," Dolgner said.

It was Simpson who took a seat in the third game with the Badgers trailing 16-13. Perhaps it shouldn't have come as any surprise that the Badgers lost the next four points, two when backup setter Nikki Klingsporn misfired on one set and then fed middle Audra Jeffers so tight to the net it made the Iowa State block easy.

"It was not just one position," Waite said. "We were off a bit."

The only consolation Waite could find is that it was his former assistant who led the Cyclones to their first regional appearance.

"If anybody was going to do this, we're happy for them," he said.

But not too happy.

"It's going to hurt for a while," senior libero Jocelyn Wack said.