When No. 1 Minnesota (13-1, 2-0 Big Ten) takes the court tomorrow night for its match at Penn State with its head held high, it won't be any statement of pride.

The Golden Gophers will be looking at a white banner hanging from the rafters of Rec Hall with the words "Penn State -- 2003 Big Ten Women's Volleyball Champions" embroidered in blue block letters.

No. 4 Penn State (11-0, 2-0) clinched that banner by beating the Gophers in Minneapolis last season 3-1 (30-19, 26-30, 30-27, 30-24). The Gophers say that they have forgotten.

"No, we haven't thought about it," Minnesota women's volleyball coach Mike Hebert said. "Last year was last year. They played a great match against us. But this year is this year and we're concentrated on now, even though we do under the variables that are out there."

The match starts at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

This is a spotlight match for the Big Ten Conference: Never before have two Big Ten teams ranked in the top five of the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll played each other.

The Nittany Lions lost to the Gophers in Rec Hall last season, one of only three conference losses during their championship campaign. Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said he's worried about a possible repeat of last year's result.

"Our players shouldn't play in fear because they kicked our butts so bad last year that it can't be worse," Rose said.

It sounds like the Lions have nothing to lose.

"I think [the Gophers] are very good," Rose said. "For us to win we have to do a lot of things well. I don't think we're favored in every area, but we're a scrappy team, and if we can compete hard we can get in a position to win some tough games."

Minnesota is lead by junior libero Paula Gentil, who earned Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Week honors this week after posting 39 digs in a three-game win against Michigan. It was a team record and a mark that hasn't been reached in the Big Ten since 1990.

The Lions also lean on their libero, junior Kaleena Walters, a team co-captain. Walters put up some pretty impressive numbers of her own during the Penn State Classic with 57 digs in three matches.

"I'm excited to play. I think we have a lot to prove," Walters said. "I think our team's pretty optimistic."

Before the Lions face Minnesota in the marquee match of the weekend, they must play upstart Iowa at 7 tonight at Rec Hall.

The Hawkeyes (9-4, 1-1) have already passed last season's dismal win total. First-year Iowa women's volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick has completely revamped a Hawkeye program that was in complete disarray just a year ago, going 6-24 overall and 1-19 in the conference.

Last week, in a surprising result, the Hawkeyes knocked off Michigan State in four games, 3-1 (30-25, 28-30, 30-17, 30-20). Last year it took the Lions five games to beat the Spartans both times the teams met, a fact that gives Rose a little more to worry about.

"We may lose to Iowa if Iowa plays better than us, but we shouldn't lose to Iowa because we're thinking about Minnesota," Rose said.

The Lions have not faced a team as tough as the Gophers so far this season. Their biggest win came against No. 11 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

Meanwhile the Gophers have played the toughest schedule in the country, beating No. 5 Florida, No. 9 Colorado State and No. 15 Kansas State. They also knocked Northern Iowa and Loyola Marymount out of the top 25 after beating both teams.

Intimidating?

"I think, even though they're No. 1, they're definitely still a beatable team," sophomore defensive specialist Kris Brown said. "Everyone in the conference is out to beat them. It will be a good game to watch because we're really pumped up."

-- Collegian Staff Writer Mark Myers contributed to this report