In the course of every season, the point known as the homestretch begins.

This weekend the No. 4 Penn State women's volleyball team (21-2, 12-2 Big Ten) has reached that point.

After the gigantic shake-up in the order of the Big Ten last weekend, the match against the Badgers becomes that much more important. Minnesota's loss to the Lions and a victory against Ohio State, plus Wisconsin's earlier upset of the Gophers, plus Illinois' victory against the Buckeyes equals a scramble for first place in the Big Ten.

"It doesn't put a lot more on it. We need to focus a lot on the game; it's going to be a big game," Penn State outside hitter Ashley Pederson said. "Each one of these next six games are going to be important. We're going to be focused on each game because each win will make a difference."

The Lions control their own destiny over the next three weeks, with matches against Ohio State, Illinois and Wisconsin, this weekend's opponent.

Those teams are first, fifth and fourth, respectively, with the Illini and Badgers sitting just three games out of the top spot.

"Sometimes the schedule favors you, and you either win or lose when you play the toughest part of your schedule," Penn State coach Russ Rose said. "But unfortunately, in our case, we have Wisconsin, Northwestern and Ohio State in our next three matches, with two of those three teams still capable of winning the Big Ten."

Penn State has to concentrate first on defeating Wisconsin (16-6, 10-4), a team that started of 2-3 in the Big Ten and then got hot, going on an eight-game winning streak.

The Badgers are the most physically imposing team in the conference, with only one front-row player less than 6-feet tall.

The plethora of size up front makes them the best blocking team in the Big Ten, with 3.94 per game.

As imposing as that might seem, the Penn State defense might actually be better overall; it is second in blocks, first in opponents' hitting percentage and second in digs.

"We focus a lot on blocking and digging the ball on defense," Pederson said.

"Our middles have been doing a good job on knowing what hitters we should be focusing on. We had some big blocks against Minnesota and Iowa, so it has pretty much been stepping up."

The hitter on whom the Lions will be focused this weekend is Wisconsin middle hitter Sheila Shaw. The 6-foot-1 native of Muskego, Wisc., has been a terror in the middle for the Badgers, racking up a 3.85 kills per game average, good enough for ninth-best in the conference. She's also one of the catalysts for the Wisconsin block, ranking first in the individual conference standings, with a little fewer than two per game.

The Lions lack a dominant hitter, with sophomore Cassy Salyer, who was tabbed for that role during spring practice, still bothered by a leg injury. But somehow the Lions have managed to continue winning.

"We've gotten to the position we're in because we've found ways to win," Rose said.

"Whether we can continue, that has yet to be determined. Teams don't fear X, Y, or Z on Penn State, but at some point there has to be an awareness that we are winning, and that is the one of the objectives, isn't it?"

Penn State faces Northwestern (8-16, 3-11) at 7 p.m. tomorrow in Rec Hall to finish up the weekend.