Dating back to Dec. 6, 1982, the Penn State women's volleyball team has beaten Indiana 30 straight times. In fact, the Nittany Lions have never lost to the Hoosiers.

Not once.

Tomorrow's matchup of Indiana (8-6, 1-1 Big Ten) and No. 4 Penn State (12-2, 3-0), at 8 p.m. in Rec Hall, could very well be headed for déjà vu all over again. But don't tell that to Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose.

"They're a scrappy team," Rose said. "In the early portions, and I still consider this the early portions, of the season, I still need to try and get us better."

Coaches always have their concerns. Whether it's the fact that the Hoosiers have two left-handed hitters or that they are also No. 1 in the Big Ten in service aces with two per game, Rose is more concerned about his own team's play.

That's strange to see after the Lions' sweep of No. 18 Ohio State on Wednesday, but the lineup problems still linger. The Lions haven't been able to really jell with the varying starters, particularly at one of the outside hitter positions, where freshman Laura Holloway has alternated with last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year, sophomore Kate Price.

"What I'm sensing now is we have more examples of kids not playing well together," Rose said.

Price started the match against the Buckeyes, while Holloway started the contest before that against No. 21 Purdue. Rose isn't happy that he repeatedly has to change the starting six. Rose didn't know as of yesterday who he was going to start.

"What you want is in practice for people to bust their tail to get in there," Rose said. "And you want people, once they're in there, to be awfully good together because they work so hard together."

That is what Rose sees in Indiana, a determined team with potential. At the moment, they are led by their two seniors, Mandy Eberle and Rachael Gerling. Eberle leads the team in blocks with 1.55 per game. But besides Eberle and Gerling, Indiana's roster is composed of two juniors, three sophomores and 10 freshmen.

One of those freshmen is outside hitter Erica Short, who leads the team in kills with 4.04 kills per game. In the Hoosiers' lone Big Ten win of the season, Short recorded 22 kills against Michigan.

Rose actively recruited Short while she was playing club volleyball in Ohio. Another freshman that Rose already knows by name is Laura Holm, the Hoosiers' starting setter. Holm, whose sister is Penn State senior Kim Holm, leads Indiana with 11.73 assists per game.

"[Laura Holm] is a feisty kid," Rose said. "And she fits the personality of the Indiana team perfectly."

So maybe this time, the Hoosiers will be able to hang tough at Rec Hall long past the start time. They're young enough that they probably can't remember that 25 out of those 30 losses to the Lions were sweeps.