The Penn State women's volleyball team's win over No. 7 Wisconsin last Saturday was supposed to be a turning point. It was supposed to be the victory that got the team on the right track for success in the NCAA tournament.

Last night's 3-0 loss to No. 10 Ohio State at Rec Hall proved that it was nothing of the sort.

The No. 11 Nittany Lions (16-5, 9-4 in Big Ten) did not seem physically or emotionally ready for the Buckeyes, despite falling just short of beating them in Columbus earlier in the season, and despite coming off their biggest win of the season. Ohio State throttled the Lions, winning 30-19, 30-23, 30-19 to move to 19-2 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten. The Lions were swept at home for the first time since the Buckeyes did it in 1995.

"I think it was clear from this match that this team was not prepared to play Ohio State," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose. "Ohio State had a very good match in every aspect of the game. They passed very well and outscrapped us, and even though we knew what they were going to do, we were unable to alter what was going on in the match."

Much like they did in the first match of the season, the Buckeyes blitzed the Lions early, opening up a 9-0 lead. This time the Lions were not able to recover. They never got within six points in the first game.

The second and third games were more of the same. The Buckeyes outside hitting combo of freshman Stacey Gordon and senior Anne Botica, and middle blocker Suzie Stiling were dominant as usual, hitting a ludicrous .409. In the three-game victory, Gordon matched her career high with 25 kills, which she previously accomplished in the five-game match against the Lions earlier in the season.

The Buckeyes were also defensively superior to the Nittany Lions, outdigging them 49-34 and outblocking them 9.0-6.5.

"Ohio State was scrapping for the ball and they refused to let any ball hit the floor," Lions setter Shannon Bortner said. "You didn't see that on our side. They just would not let any ball hit the floor."

As Rose has maintained all year, however, the major dilemma facing the team is not something that can be fixed by making strategic changes.

The team's lack of chemistry has never been more evident than it was last night. The team seemed severely out of sync from the opening serve, and had severe communications problems. Both Rose and the players pointed to a lack of leadership as the reason the team has seen its share of ups and downs this season.

"I think a lot of people are talking but nobody's listening," junior outside hitter Hilary Sexton said. "There's a lot of talk about how someone has to step up and be a leader, but no one's allowing a leader to emerge. We're all such good friends outside the gym that we don't allow each other to say certain things."

Rose knew from practice that his team took a little too much confidence from the Wisconsin game, and set themselves up for a letdown.

"Practice was not especially good this week," Rose said. "I thought I put more time into pointing out what mistakes they were making than the players did trying to fix those mistakes. If you don't work hard in practice, it's shouldn't be a surprise when you don't play well in games."

The Lions will try to turn things around against Purdue (3-17, 1-11) in West Lafayette, Ind. Friday night.