It's the polite attitude to have whenever guests come to party at your place, but it's more than mere sentiment where the NCAA volleyball regional is concerned.

Go ahead, guys, and make yourselves at home.

When California, Iowa State, Michigan State and Nebraska come to the University of Wisconsin Field House Friday and Saturday, a unique reality is this used to be home for so many key figures.

John Cook ran the UW program for seven seasons before leaving in 1998 to coach at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are the defending national champions.

One of his assistants is Lizzy (Fitzgerald) Stemke, who was an All-American and Big Ten Conference Player of the Year for the Badgers in 2001.

Christy Johnson was an assistant coach at UW for eight seasons -- two under Cook and six under current Badgers coach Pete Waite -- before taking the reins at Iowa State in 2004. Her boss, Cyclones athletic director Jamie Pollard, was the deputy AD at UW before taking over in Ames in 2005.

Meanwhile, Chris Bigelow was a Badgers assistant under Cook from 1995 to '98 before hooking up as an assistant with California coach Rich Feller.

Then there's Russ Carney, the UW coach from 1982 to '84 who works as an assistant at Michigan State under coach Cathy George.

The only problem with this shindig is the host went out to get more ice and hasn't been heard from since.

This was supposed to be a music-cranking, standing room-only party for the Badgers, who could have advanced to their second Final Four of the Waite Era without leaving the corner of Monroe Street and Breese Terrace.

UW was assigned to host one of four NCAA regionals last April. Then came word the school would serve as a campus site for first- and second-round matches.

Everything was lining up nicely for the Badgers, whose bonding trip to Europe over the summer had produced a close-knit team Waite compared favorably in talent and experience to the one that advanced to the NCAA title match in 2000.

The Field House is unquestionably one of the loudest venues in Division I women's volleyball. UW averaged 5,050 fans in 15 matches -- the first time it cracked the 5,000 barrier in attendance, putting it third nationally behind Hawaii and Nebraska -- and had room for 10,000 had it advanced.

But the then-No. 8 Badgers couldn't get out of their own way, falling in three straight games to Iowa State in the regional final Saturday.

There will still be a party of sorts this weekend at the Field House, where approximately 2,400 ticket packages had been sold as of Wednesday.

Nebraska fans have a reputation for traveling well, which should be aided by the fact they don't have a football bowl trip to finance. Second-ranked and once-beaten, the Cornhuskers face No. 24 Michigan State at 7 p.m. Friday.

Iowa State, meanwhile, is offering to bus fans to Madison on Friday, a six-hour journey that will be worth every cent of the $49.50 tab if the No. 18 Cyclones can keep playing Ms. Goliath against No. 6 Cal in the 5 p.m. match.

The winners will play Saturday night for a spot in next week's Final Four in Sacramento, Calif.

One more thing: You know the way out, guys. Turn off the lights when you leave.