After rocking Rec Hall last weekend with a 196.875-192.450 win over Pittsburgh, the No. 10 Penn State women's gymnastics team hits the road again. This time, the Nittany Lions will face No. 6 Nebraska, unranked James Madison and host No. 17 West Virginia.

Penn State has been away three times this season bringing home a win against Illinois, losing to Ohio State, and placing 6th out of six teams at the Super Six Challenge to open its season.

But the big win against the Panthers, the highest score Penn State has received since scoring a 197.025 against Alabama in 1999, has given the Nittany Lions something to be confident about.

"I think that they got a taste of success and they are hungry for more," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

And it's hard to disagree by looking at recent scores the top Lions have received in the past few meets.

Sophomore Katie Rowland, this week's Big Ten gymnast of the week, brought home her second all-around title in as many weeks, beating her personal best and scoring a 39.525 against Pittsburgh. Her 9.950 score on floor was also a career best for the Georgetown, Ontario native.

Her score of 9.875 on the bars tied her personal best and her 9.900 on beam was another career high. Rowland is currently ranked 29th out of 246 in the nation in the all-around competition.

"The past two meets have really helped me," Rowland said. "I was struggling early on in the season, but I was able to put it together the last two meets. There's stuff I'm working on to improve the difficulty of my routines. There's always tenths you can gain somehow."

And like Rowland, her teammates are working on the exact same things. Their hard work in the gym has paid off too. In addition to winning the meet against Pittsburgh, Penn State broke the school record on floor by scoring a 49.550.

In helping to attain the high mark, sophomores Leslie Bair (9.900), and Katie McAvoy (9.850) and freshman Richelle Simpson (9.925) scored their top scores of their careers on the apparatus.

Lion co-captain seniors Gemma Cuff and Maria Taylor are also pulling their share of the weight.

Taylor scored a 9.925 on bars against Pittsburgh, placing first in the event for the third week in a row, and tying her personal best. Cuff tied for second against Pittsburgh on the floor with a 9.925 and finished first on vault with a 9.900.

"They're continuing to try to develop as a cohesive unit as they can," Shephard said. "They are being held accountable to each other in terms of what they expect from each other in practice and I think that continues to improve."

The Lions aren't the only ones who have been doing well recently. Nebraska has a 5-1 record for the season and broke its school record by scoring a 197.025 against Missouri. West Virginia is led by sophomores Dinorh Boyd, currently ranked 14th in the nation according to Gym Info, Amanda Halvanic, and TeShawne Jackson along with junior Kristen Macrie.

The Mountaineers are currently ranked No. 9 on bars and No. 16 on vault in the nation.

"We've been trying to improve our consistency," West Virginia women's gymnastics coach Linda Burdette said. "We've had some mistakes in every meet we've had. That's probably our primary goal."

James Madison comes into the meet this weekend with a 3-2 record. Although unranked, James Madison women's gymnastics coach Roger Burke is excited about this weekend.

"The goal for us is to go out there and perform at the level that we have been doing in the gym," Burke said. "I think it will be a great meet. The women on our team are excited. I'm excited. It's a tremendous opportunity to be in the same gym with these teams. And I'm really looking forward to maximizing this opportunity."

And just like Burke, the other teams competing this weekend are looking forward to showing the nation what they've got.

"Anything can happen," Burdette said. "I think it's going to be who's the most consistent during the meet. I think it will be a very good competition and it will be very close."