Lady spikers hope to regain form against Northwestern, Michigan

In its first full weekend at Rec Hall, the Penn State women's volleyball team demonstrated its sluggish play that toured the Midwest in a month of road matches.

However, the Lady Lions also exhibited the greatness so many opposing coaches and players believed they possessed.

And in practice earlier this week, coach Russ Rose said his team showed signs of both squads. Rose also added the lull in the Lady Lions' travel schedule has allowed some individuals to return to playing form, although he has not seen a complete turnaround in practice.

"I think the key to peaking is rest," Rose said. "But performance in matches is correlated to performance in practice."

The No. 2 Lady Lions (26-1, 15-1 Big Ten) must bring the performances that enabled them to conquer Stanford, Nebraska and Texas earlier this season into this weekend's matches. The Lady Lions first face Northwestern at 7:30 tonight at Rec Hall. The Wildcats were the first team to push the Lady Lions to five games this season, nearly pulling off the upset before Penn State was able to rally from a 12-8 deficit.

The Lady Lions then host Michigan (17-10, 10-6) at 8 p.m. tomorrow, also at Rec Hall. The Wolverines are two wins away from enjoying their best Big Ten season. Overall, Michigan is looking to post 20 wins for just the fourth time in the program's existence. After opening the season at 1-2, the Wolverines took 13 of 15 matches, including eight straight victories, only to split each weekend for the past six weeks.

"I feel that we're having a good year," Michigan coach Greg Giovanazzi said. "Our consistency is not what it was. You hope that everyone gets better as the season goes on."

While Michigan is trying to achieve a historical season by its standards, Northwestern is rebuilding a program that has been the conference's most inferior. The Wildcats are 1-39 in the Big Ten the last two years, including an 0-20 record last season. Kevin Renshler replaced Margie Fitzpatrick last March and the Wildcats already have exceeded the combined mark.

Northwestern (12-15, 3-13) has seen some indication that the seemingly perpetual beatings may not last eternally. Besides taking Penn State to five games, the Wildcats upended Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich., in five games. They also took a game off No. 4 Florida in early September in going 9-2 in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

And Jessica Holloway is looking to become the first Wildcat to surpass the 1,000 mark in both kills and digs before the end of her junior season, needing 19 kills and eight digs to accomplish the feat. Three others have managed to attain the plateau, but each needed a senior season reach the milestone.

"She is the cornerstone we build or program around," Renshler said. "If Jessica plays within herself and doesn't try to do too much, she can have a great night. When she tries to carry the team it's too much of a load."

Last Saturday, the Wildcats snapped an 0-8 string in a three-game sweep of Iowa, in which Wildcat setter Liz Renius set 83 assists in that five-game match.

Michigan also boasts a prime setter in senior Linnea Mendoza, who is working her way up the Big Ten all-time assist list. Mendoza is 241 assists short of the 5,000 mark.

"She and (Lady Lion setter) Bonnie (Bremner) are the best two setters in the conference," Giovanazzi said. "Linnea does not have the hitters other setters in the conference have."

Although Bremner has possibly the top middle hitting tandem in the nation in Lauren Caccaimani and Terri Zemaitis, they must play like that dominating duo for a difference to be noticed.