Another weekend at home, another weekend of wins for No. 5 Penn State (16-1, 7-1 Big Ten).

Ashley Pederson, whose total of 24 kills was one short of her season high, carried the Nittany Lions past Michigan State (6-10, 1-7) on Saturday night. The Lions held on to win a sloppy match 3-1 (30-17, 30-24, 23-30, 30-22).

"It was a tough match," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said.

"When Michigan State passes the ball well, they're at times an overpowering team. The tempo was fast and we just weren't ready to react to that."

That fast tempo was thanks to one Kim Schram. In games two and three she lead the Spartan attack that out hit the Lions .347 to .217.

"It's like one of those cliches in sports," Rose said.

"They're far better than their record indicates. I think the way they played that third game is as good as anyone's played against us." Michigan State had the size and
skills to do some serious damage, with only three people under 6-feet tall on their entire squad. Game three was an indication of how good the Spartans could be.

It opened up to a 10-4 Michigan State lead, thanks in part to multiple miscues from Penn State -- back to back errors.

The Lions closed the gap to 12-8, but the Spartans never let the Lions get close, their largest lead at one point 22-14.

"I just don't think we were playing as good as we were in games one and two," Lions setter Sam Tortorello said.

"We just didn't come out ready to play in that game."

The generally sloppy play did lead to some new offensive looks on attack for the Lions.

Multiple times on defense the Lions' passing was off the mark, forcing Tortorello to set Pederson and fellow outside hitter Kate Price in the back row. Ironically, the back-row rush attack was fairly successful, catching the Spartans off guard.

Rose was reluctant to say whether the attack strategy would be featured in future matches, but he did compliment Pederson for turning what could've been a defensive break down into Penn State points.

"I thought Ashley played especially well tonight," Rose said. "I was really glad to see her step up in a big match like that because she had kind of been dragging a little bit. I don't think she's been playing great, so this was a good match for her to step up and we need her to do that -- 24 kills and only four errors."

The Lions sweep over Michigan on Friday night, 3-0 (30-23, 30-21, 30-14), was a much more crisp performance than Saturday's match.

The Lions defense held Wolverine star performers Jennifer Gandolph and Katie Bruzdzinski to only .045 and .057, respectively.

Michigan fought hard in games one and two, but only 14 points in game three was rough.

"Penn State did a great job, and there were times when we were able to compete with a very good Penn State team," Michigan women's volleyball coach Mark Rosen said.

"Our top level and their top level isn't all that different, but our bottom level and their bottom level is vastly different. They're very steady. The difference between them playing good and them playing poor is very incremental. Penn State forced us, and in game three we broke down."

The Lions must now make a quick transition from dealing with the physical play of Michigan State, to facing the most physical player in the Big Ten on Wednesday, Stacey Gordon.

The Ohio State senior, arguably one of the top players in the country, brings her undefeated, 18-0 team into Rec Hall on Wednesday. Are you ready?