When the Penn State women's volleyball team boards a plane and heads to a road match, its members know they all have targets on their backs.

Being the No. 1 team in the country, the Nittany Lions know when they head to Wisconsin and Iowa for their weekend matches, the fans in the packed arenas will be looking for them to stumble.

Penn State (24-0, 12-0) has spent the week of practice preparing for the energy of some of biggest crowds in collegiate volleyball along with the high intensity its opponents will be bringing to the court.

"I think we have to be prepared every time we go away because it seems like the opponent gets the biggest crowd when they play us," senior setter Alisha Glass said. "We respect that, but we also enjoy the environment. We're just going to have to be efficient in what we're doing."

Freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton echoed Glass' opinion, saying the team likes playing on the road, but because it is No. 1 in the country it knows more fans will come because they want to see an upset.

With the Lions holding onto an 88-match winning streak, their opponents are going to play their best against Penn State, Dorton said.

"We know we always have a target on our backs," she said. "Everyone is going to play their best against us. We know every crowd is going to want us to do badly and see us fall. It's just a little extra pressure on us to perform our best every time."

A concern of coach Russ Rose is that along with teams gunning to beat the Lions, the season is also winding down. This means it will be the last time seniors on Wisconsin and Iowa will get to play against Penn State in the regular season.

"There's not a lot of players that have had success with Penn State, and I know that motivates them to be the team that beats us," Rose said. "I would hope that the players recognize that this time of the year teams and players are getting better, and you need to be focused and ready to play."

With only eight matches left in the season, half of which will be played on the road, the Lions understand they can't let the difficulties of playing away from Rec Hall get to them.

Glass said the Lions need to go into the last part of their season knowing that teams play better at home, and go into the matches ready to counter their opponent's aggressive approach.

"We like to play in an environment where it's loud and people are excited about volleyball," Glass said. "We know it's going to be tough... I think we'll thrive under that environment and hopefully everyone will play well."