After plowing through its first three opponents at home in Holuba Hall, the No. 14 Penn State women's lacrosse team is set to begin a three-game road trip that will test its talent against some of the NCAA's best.

At 7 tonight in Charlottesville, Va., the Nittany Lions (3-0) will take on No. 7 Virginia (4-0) in the first of three away games that they'll play over the next nine days.

On Sunday, the team will travel to Williamsburg, Va. for a matchup against William and Mary (1-2). Penn State will then wrap up the trip with a game next Saturday against No 9 Princeton (1-0).

"We all know the competition is about to get stiffer," Penn State coach Suzanne Isidor said. "We can't afford to make too many mistakes against our upcoming opponents."

Defending ACC champion Virginia has notched two of its four wins over ranked opponents -- No. 12 Syracuse and No. 13 Richmond -- and will provide a good measuring stick of Penn State's talent. Isidor has only focused on the Cavaliers so far in practice since she does not want her team looking ahead.

In the past, this gauntlet of away games has proven to be an Achilles' heel for the Lions. Last year, they lost all three games. They also haven't swept the William and Mary-Virginia weekend since 1996 and have fallen to the Tribe three years running.

"[This week] is really important for us because, last year, it was a big turning point," Penn State defender Renee Cipro said. "It's going to be big for us to establish the tone for the rest of the season."

Cipro was referring to the fact that Penn State had a similar start last season, cruising to a 3-0 record, but dropped its next three games to start a downhill trend from which the team wold never recover.

In order to avoid a similar fate, Isidor believes the team needs to minimize its mistakes and play solid team defense to neutralize the opposing attackers. These are weaknesses that she noticed during the first three games but will be magnified against better competition.

"We've been working on trying to clean up our games, and I think we've done a good job of that in practice this week," Isidor said.

The coach has confidence in the ability of her team and believes that winning all three games is a possibility for Penn State. However, given last year's results and the quality of their opponents, Isidor wouldn't be displeased if the Lions could take two of three.

"Each one of them is going to be a tough game," she said. "Three wins is definitely realistic for us and that's what were going for, but if we come out with two wins I think we'll be okay."

The Lions will face nine top-20 teams throughout the rest of the regular season and these three games mark the beginning of a difficult stretch. Cipro is putting a lot of stock in the upcoming week.

"This will show us where we are as a team and what we have," Cipro said.