It is only fitting that the Penn State women's volleyball team needs to prove themselves on the road in order to get a chance to play the first round of the NCAA tournament at home.
Away contests have been devastating to the brittle mental state of the No. 16 Nittany Lions (19-7, 12-6) this season. As a result, the team has yet to mount any sort of continuous momentum or span of consistency.
For that reason, head coach Russ Rose isn't even concerned with earning the right to host the first round. He just wants to wrap up an at large bid.
"The criteria to get in requires us to play better," he said. "That's all I'm worried about. I'm not even sure I want to participate (in the tourney) if we aren't going to be serious about it."
The Lions will enjoy Turkey Day here in State College before flying off to Iowa for a game Friday at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
Saturday will be the key to the trip, as the Lions will take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.
Though Rose claims he's not convinced his team is in the tourney, Minnesota (18-10, 10-8) coach Mike Hebert believes his squad, which has a worse record and is unranked, will make the tournament. His team is currently sixth in the conference, and the Big Ten has traditionally sent about six teams to the tournament.
"If you go by history, we're in," he said. "But that could change dependent on who wins the other conferences."
Thirty-two of the 64 bids go to conference champions and a committee decides the at-large bids. The fact that most teams lost a weekend of non-conference action due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 will make comparing teams from across the country difficult. In other words, the field could differ from what has been the norm in the past.
Minnesota's team is strikingly similar to Penn State's. They are led by senior setter Lindsey Berg, perhaps the most gutsy, gamiest player in the conference. Steph Hagen anchors the outside, nailing .395 of her attacks per game in conference. But despite the presence of consistent elder players, they are also searching for younger players to step up and complete the team.
"This is not an easy league to do trial and error in," said Hebert. "You blink, you lose."
Penn State put together a strong performance when the Golden Gophers came to Rec Hall Oct. 12, sweeping the match. Along with the Wisconsin game, it was the most cohesive performance for this Lions team.
Hebert thinks his team will be more prepared this time around.
"That certainly wasn't our best effort of the season," he said. "In fact, we played very poorly. I hope our players would come out with a better effort this time around."
Sara Meyermann, the top killer in the conference, leads the Hawkeye (6-21, 3-15) attack. The senior outside hitter is averaging 5.58 kills a game for Iowa, which resides just above the cellar in 10th place.
Iowa has not beaten the Lions in 20 attempts.
