They dominated in the second game winning 30-20, and finished the Boilermakers off in game three, coming back from a 14-10 deficit to win 30-23.

"After Wednesday, there really wasn't any place for us to go but up," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said. "Obviously we played a lot better than we did against Ohio State. You never know how you're going to play, so it's always good to get a win."

The Lions got a victory in their season long battle to balance the offense and keep teams from focusing their block on senior outside hitter Katie Schumacher.

Against Purdue, the attack was the most balanced it had been all season with five players registering double digit kills.

Schumacher still led the team with 12, but this time junior outside hitter Mishka Levy contributed 11, middle blockers Cara Smith and Nadia Edwards added 10 each, and freshman Ashley Pederson had 10 of her own. The Lions hit .342 overall, and in game two, hit a blistering .543.

Junior Shannon Bortner, who just switched back to setter last Friday against Northwestern, registered 49 assists, using all of her offensive options.

"I thought we distributed the ball very well," Bortner said. "The outside hitters and middles both got a lot of chances to put the ball on the floor. We need to do that to keep the other team guessing so they're not putting up double blocks."

Levy's defense has continued to improve after early season struggles. The returning All-American registered a team-leading 11 digs in the game.

"I think Mishka's played well defensively in some recent games," Rose said. "I thought she played very well against Wisconsin, but I don't think she was there defensively against Ohio State. We need her to play like she did against Purdue in the big games."

Nobody is thinking that the win over the Boilermakers was all the Lions needed to fix their chemistry problems, and get back on track for the national title. However, their ability to come back after the 7-1 deficit in the first game and eventually get the sweep will likely give them somewhat of a boost.

It was also clearly good for the Lions to play again just two days after the Ohio State match.

"It was good to get on the court just to see where we were," Bortner said. "We were still tentative in our practice on Friday, but it was a good win. We really needed it to get our confidence back."

Though the win was a boost, Rose still isn't confident that the team's problems can be fixed in time for the NCAA tournament.

"It will take more time than there is left in the season for us to change things," Rose said. "There is less time left to change things than has been spent causing the situation."