The main gymnasium at Rec Hall has seemed far away for the Penn State women's volleyball team (8-1).

For three weeks in a row, the women have been on the road, with the most recent trip to Provo, Utah for Friday and Saturday's BYU Mizuno Classic. With previous trips to Maine and Ohio, the players have traveled the country.

"Three weeks on the road is tough," sophomore libero Kaleena Walters said. "You have to kind of unify, the crowd isn't behind you at all."

The women saw the effects of the difficult away schedule this weekend, as they fell to the host school, an unranked BYU, in their ninth road match.

"There were some calls that didn't go our way. Some players were affected by the altitude," women's volleyball head coach Russ Rose said. "When you're on the road, those things can steamroll you pretty quick."

Rose designed the road schedule with the team's development in mind.

"With a younger team, I wanted them to get more experience on the road and to get more acclimated to each other and some of the rigors of travel," Rose said.

The schedule also served to expose some of the team's weaknesses on the court that might have gone unnoticed.

"When we do show some weaknesses, the teams get momentum and they have the home court advantage behind them," senior defensive specialist Emily Gerega said. "Every game's a big game and we have to be ready to go all the time."

The women know that the next step is to simply target their weaknesses in this coming week.

"We definitely know what we need to get better on, what we need to work on," Walters said. "We're going to work hard this week."

And the time on the road is all part of the learning process for the team.

"All three trips, there was some lesson to be learned," Rose said. "BYU was a chance to see a good team on the road in front of an active crowd."

"I [won't] know if they learned until we are on the road, in front of a hostile crowd, with incompetent officials, but I hope they can uncover these things."

The next road test will have to wait for now, as the team at last kicks off its home schedule by hosting Robert Morris, Brown and Cincinnati at next weekend's Penn State Classic.

And after three weeks on the road, Rec Hall and the home crowd are looking even better to the players.

"[Being on the road] just gave us a greater appreciation of the home court and the home crowd," Gerega said. "The crowd roots for us, not against us."