Every collegiate team dreams of playing in the NCAA tournament. This weekend, the women's volleyball team takes another step in that direction as it wraps up its conference schedule at Rec Hall.
The No. 15 Lady Lions (23-4) are currently 6-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Wins this weekend would make them undefeated for the season and the No. 1 seed going into the conference tournament.
They scrambled this weekend's schedule, however, still facing A-10 foes Rutgers at 7 tonight and Temple at 7 tomorrow night, but moving non-conference Liberty from Sunday to 11 tomorrow morning.
"The goal you set out for every season is to be successful in conference play," Coach Russ Rose said. "This year is no different. I don't have scouting reports on any of this weekend's teams, but I believe that all our players know what's at stake. To stay 15th in the country we have to continue to be successful on the court. If we play well we will be."
"Coach really hasn't told us much about the teams we'll be playing this weekend," outside hitter/setter Jenny Schuller said. "All we know is that they're definitely not Top 20 teams. But we should do really well if we play together."
After a shaky start early this season, the Lady Lions currently are on track with a 15-game winning streak. Still, the coach and players said that the constant need to push their performance and maintain their consistency, especially with NCAAs coming up.
"We're just going to try and improve this weekend," backrow specialist Laura Stober said, "and not just on any one aspect of the game, but on the whole game. This weekend shouldn't be too tough. If anything, we need to keep our intensity up ... and not play to a lower level so that when we play slightly tougher teams next weekend we'll be ready. We haven't peaked yet."
Penn State has not dropped a regular-season conference match since the A-10's round-robin system began in 1984. Wins over Rutgers and Temple this weekend would put the Lady Lions' record at 41-0.
"Eventually, we're going to lose," Rose said. "We're not going to go undefeated in conference play forever. Nothing is forever. But I do not think we are going to lose this weekend. If we do, I'd be disappointed, but I would assume it was because somebody played great volleyball."
After this weekend's A-10 regular-season cap, only a few short weeks remain until the conference tournament. The Lady Lions have finished first in their conference annually since 1983. The conference champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in December.
"I don't care about the past," Rose said. "I care about now and next week and this year. We have been successful in conference play and I would hope we will continue to be successful. As I've contended ever since I've been coaching, it's how you play, not who you play."
"The season has gone really quickly," Stober said. "I sat down the other day and looked at the calendar and I realized that there's only a few more weeks until NCAAs start. We're only home this weekend and one more."
