After a weekend playing before a jam-packed crowd in Purdue, the Penn State women's volleyball team returns to Rec Hall this weekend against two ranked opponents.

And, surprisingly, the incoming foes are also kind of excited about making the trip to University Park.

The No. 2 Nittany Lions will take on No. 24 Minnesota (10-4, 4-0 Big Ten) at 7 tomorrow night and No. 13 Wisconsin (10-2, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

And even though the Lions (15-0, 4-0) have dominated at home over the years, both opposing coaches expressed some measure of delight about playing in Rec Hall again.

"Obviously there's a lot of respect; you walk into that building and its dripping with success and respect but that's not a bad thing for an opponent," Minnesota head coach Mike Herbert said. "I think that's an environment that invites an opponent to come in and play as hard as they can."

Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite expressed similar thoughts about Penn State's home gym.

"We love the excitement and think that's a pretty fun environment to play in," Waite said. "They've got good crowds and they have for years."

But all of that might come as a bit of shock. Penn State is 438-26 (.994) in 30 seasons at Rec Hall.

In Big Ten matches, Penn State hasn't lost at home since Oct. 20, 2004 against Ohio State. And the last time the Lions were swept at home in conference was against Minnesota on Oct. 18, 2003.

And from Nov. 25, 1995 to Sept. 16, 2000, the Lions went on an 87-match winning streak at home. Only three other teams; the basketball squads of Kentucky from 1943-55 (129), St. Bonaventure from 1948-55 (99) and UCLA from 1970-76 (98), have had longer home-court winning streaks in Div.-I athletics.

Since 1981, Penn State has gone undefeated 10 times in regular season home matches.

Part of that, Herbet said, could be attributed to the large crowds the Lions draw. In 2005, Penn State ranked No. 6 nationally in average attendance (2,726 per match).

"No question, it's an advantage," he said. "For all the obvious reasons, but I also think that there are moments in a match or individual games, there are often turning points and you can sense the Penn State crowd getting nervous or anxious and that energy of the crowd feeds the determination of the home team."

Despite all the gaudy stats, Minnesota has beaten Penn State three times in Rec Hall since 1983. Wisconsin, though, has only beaten the Lions once in Happy Valley since 1986.

And years past don't mean anything now. Minnesota and Wisconsin will have to adjust to the fresh talent Penn State has put on the floor this year.

"How do you prepare for probably the best left side hitting tandem in the country?" Herbert said of Penn State's outside hitters, sophomore Nicole Fawcett and freshman Megan Hodge.

"We're going to have to play some great defense to offset what those two can do. On top of that you throw in Harmotto and the rest of the team. Offensively they're very difficult to tough to stop. You can't key on anyone."

He paused for a second: "And Melissa Walbridge has been a Gopher killer her whole career."