You never know what is going to happen in the Big Ten women's volleyball conference and Penn State found that out this weekend in two matches at Rec Hall.

The No. 9 Nittany Lions (18-3, 8-2 Big Ten) thrashed Northwestern (13-9, 6-4) in three games (30-23, 30-27, 30-21) Friday night and then lost a devastating nail-biter to No. 15 Wisconsin (15-6, 6-4) in five games (30-23, 30-32, 30-21, 28-30, 10-15) Saturday night.

"It was a good match," Penn State women's volleyball head coach Russ Rose said of the loss to the Badgers. "We had opportunities in the match, but I am disappointed that we did not close it out when we had those opportunities."

With the match tied at two games apiece, Wisconsin took an early lead in the fifth game by building a 10-5 lead. However, Penn State was not about to give up.

Senior libero Hilary Sexton made a diving dig that freshman setter Sam Tortorello positioned for senior middle hitter Robyn Guokas to hammer home and cut the Badger lead to 13-10.

That is all the closer Penn State would get as Wisconsin senior outside hitter Erin Byrd came up with a huge kill to make it 14-10.

Byrd, who shared Big Ten Player of the Week honors with Minnesota setter Lindsey Vander Well, finished the night with 25 kills and 24 digs.

"She [Byrd] had a great kill at the fourteenth point," Rose said. "She does a nice job for them and she carries a lot of responsibility as a primary passer and she took a lot of big swings tonight."

Sophomore outside hitter Jill Odenthal finished the game and the match with a demoralizing kill that quieted the 2,275 viewers on hand at Rec Hall.

"Wisconsin is a good volleyball team," Rose said. "They won the last two conference championships."

The Lions, who set a team record with 20 blocks, started the match off strong by taking game one in a convincing fashion and it looked like another three-game sweep. But the Badgers clawed their way back into a seesawing game that saw Byrd come up with a kill to tie the match at one.

Game three proved that the Lions were not going to give up as outside hitter Syndie Nadeau, who had a career-high 16 digs, made the kill to give her team the 2-1 advantage.

Wisconsin would control the fourth game until fifth-year senior outside hitter Mishka Levy, who finished with 25 kills and a career-high-tying 10 blocks, started to send laser beam kills across the net. Levy and the Lions got within one point (29-28), but it would be too late as the Badgers tied the match on the very next point at two games apiece.

As a team, the Lions out-hit the Badgers .314 to .218 for the match. Guokas, who tied her career-high 14 kills on 22 attempts with one error, hit .591 on the night and also had a season-high 11 blocks.

"We played hard," Rose said. "Mishka stepped up and played hard today and Robyn had a good evening as well."

The reactions were the same with the players.

"I am kind of upset because we out-blocked them, we outplayed them and we still found a way to lose the match," Levy said, tears running down her cheeks.

Other notable performances came from Tortorello, who chipped in with a career-high 70 assists and tied her career-high in blocks with four, and Ashley Pederson, who added a career-high 17 kills.

"We need to play a lot harder at home," Levy said. "I don't think the opponent [Wisconsin] should come in and win on our floor, that shouldn't happen."

Although Saturday proved to be a downer for the Lions, Friday night was a high point. The Lions, who dominated the game, out-hit the Wildcats .284 to .175 and set a record for team blocks with 16 that would fall the next night against Wisconsin.

Pederson led the way with 10 kills and a season-high four blocks, while Sexton contributed with 12 digs and freshman outside hitter Kaleena Walters added a career-high 10 digs.

"I think I am getting better and the team is more responsive to that, so I try to have a lot of energy," Walters said.

Northwestern, which had defeated Wisconsin in three games earlier in the week, came close to winning game two when senior middle hitter Sarah Ballog pounded a kill to bring the Wildcats within two, 26-28. But, Levy and Guokas came up with two kills that finished the game and basically ended any chance of a Northwestern comeback.

With these two games in the books, the team still has a lot to look forward too and that will be tested with how they respond to this lose in the upcoming weeks.

"We still have the other half of the season to go," Levy said, "so we can't kill ourselves right now."