So this is what defeat looks like. No smiling, no clapping, no cheering. Blank stares all around.

Anger, frustration, disappointment, regret, all bottled up, freshman outside hitter Megan Hodge said.

After Penn State helplessly popped the ball out of bounds on match point, a small contingent of costume-wearing students rushed the court, joining the No. 14 Wisconsin women's volleyball team as they danced around center court.

For the first time since Oct. 20, 2004 -- a 41-match span -- No. 2 Penn State (22-1, 11-1 Big Ten) lost a conference match, leaving No. 1 Nebraska as the nation's lone remaining undefeated team.

The Nittany Lions lost to the Badgers, 3-0 (22-30, 28-30, 25-30), on Friday at the University of Wisconsin Field House before a boisterous 5,487-person Halloween crowd.

But on Saturday, they managed to rally back and fight off No. 12 Minnesota, 3-2 (21-30, 30-12, 26-30, 30-24, 15-13), on the road at Minneapolis, Minn.

And more than just a tally in the "L" column, the upset was disappointing because of the way the Lions fought, Penn State head coach Russ Rose said.

Unlike their first meeting -- a 3-0 Penn State win -- the Lions were outplayed in every facet. Wisconsin looked a bit different, too, as it was able to use senior outside hitter Maria Carlini, who didn't play in the teams' first meeting.

And another notable difference, Hodge, who was been nearly unstoppable all year, was outdone by Wisconsin's freshman outside hitter Brittney Dolgner.

"Some people will say that a loss is good. But if you're involved in sports, I care about how we play," Rose said. "I don't ever look at is as like, 'Wow, that was a good loss.' You need to play hard."

Penn State, which came into the match ranked second nationally in hitting percentage (.319), was limited to .225 by the Badgers.

"I think it was a big wake up call on Friday night," sophomore middle hitter Christa Harmotto said. "We gotta go up from here. After the match, we were like, You know what, we can't accept these bad practice, teams out working us -- we can't accept this any more."

The Lions did receive quality offensive production from their middles, something that they've been striving for all year, but were out-blocked by the Badgers, who were in control most of the match.

Wisconsin set the tone running off early in the first game thanks to Dolgner's serving effort. The freshman had nine consecutive points and helped the Badgers break away.

Dolgner had 12 kills on .611 hitting. Conversely, Hodge, who had one of her worst performances of the year, said she played tentatively and wasn't feeling confident on Friday. She had 11 kills and 11 errors and finished with .000 hitting.

"I don't really know, it's just all mental," Hodge said. "The season's long, and it gets kind of tough. The last half of the season you have to push through it. It's tough to stay confident and tough through all 30 matches."

And despite many players on the team experiencing their first Big Ten loss against Wisconsin, on Saturday, they were able to come through against the Golden Gophers.

Penn State traded games with Minnesota, but received 17 kills from three players in the five-game effort and came out with the win.

"I think we realized that we do have to work together," Hodge said. "It can't be six individuals or 16 individuals. It has to be all of us working hard, all day, every day."