Lindsey Berg described the opportunity as exciting.

Minnesota head volleyball coach Mike Herbett described his squad as the best he's had in his five year span with the team.

When the No.6 Golden Gophers (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) come to Happy Valley tonight, they will be carrying a 13-match winning streak and a chance to set a school record for most wins in team history.

With a win over the Nittany Lions women's volleyball team, the Gophers will extend their win streak and end the longest home winning streak in Penn State school history at 87 matches.

"Penn State is a great team," Berg said. "They have had a lot of tradition up there and it will be very exciting to play them."

While Minnesota might be on the rise and experiencing one of the best seasons in school history, their opponent tomorrow night is at the other end of the spectrum.

The Lions are struggling and are looking to turn things around this weekend after dropping their last two matches to Big Ten opponents, Wisconsin and Northwestern. Penn State was beaten for the first time since 1997 when it dropped its first match in 10 attempts to the Badgers.

Though the defeat was hard for the Lions, it was a minor detail compared the blow Northwestern handed to them when they defeated Penn State last Saturday.

"The loss to Wisconsin was tough, but they played really well in front of their crowd," Penn State junior Amanda Rome said. "But after we lost to Northwestern, we really looked at ourselves since it was a match we let slip away and should have won."

Similar to Penn State's success, one of the keys for Minnesota's early season can be attributed to Berg's solid play. The junior from Honolulu has led the Big Ten in service aces in back-to-back years and is closing in on her third title as she has 29 aces in the 39 games which leads the Big Ten.

"Lindsey has been great for us," Herbett said. "She is one of the best setters in the conference and may be the best."

While Minnesota will be the first test for Penn State this weekend, the Lions will wrap up the weekend with a match against Iowa tomorrow at 8 p.m., following the Penn State football game. The Lions know the only way to get back on track is to play hard and this weekend they will need to do just that against a pair of Big Ten contenders.