When a team faces an opponent that leads its conference in five of seven major categories, it is going to be a struggle.

The Badgers, who are 14-8 (4-6 Big Ten) after Sunday’s loss against Indiana, experienced just that in their loss in straight sets to the Nittany Lions 25-20, 25-16, 25-21.

Penn State came into the game as the No.1 team in the nation and led the Big Ten in most categories. On offense, the Nittany Lions were able to hit .349 while limiting the Badgers to only a .100 hitting percentage.

“When you come up against a team that is hitting the ball that hard, I mean, every server on their side is hitting heat,” outside hitter Allison Wack said. “So [we were] just trying to do the best we could to get around them. Sometimes you can’t always be there, and you try to make the best play you can. But they are definitely a strong serving team as well as their [strong] offense.”

Penn State was led by senior middle hitter Christa Harmotto, who had 10 kills and an unheard of .692 hitting percentage. Going into the match, Harmotto led the nation in hitting percentage, averaging .512. Senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett also contributed 17 kills, including 10 in the third set.

Positives for the Badgers

Although they were swept, there were a few positives coming out of the Penn State match for the Badgers. Wisconsin was only one of a handful of teams to break 20 points against the Nittany Lions and the first to score 20 on them in two sets.

“I thought they played well, but they always play well against us,” Penn State head coach Russ Rose said. “I don’t look at the records. I know it’s Wisconsin, and I know they have players on their team that have beaten us previously. We have lost here before, and our players know this is a place where you are always going to get the other team’s best effort.”

The Badgers saw a big game from Wack, who led the team with eight kills and had a .294 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Morgan Salow had another big game off the bench with seven kills, including four in the third set.

“There are a lot of positives out of this,” sophomore setter Nikki Klingsporn said. “Obviously we wanted to get the win. But Penn State is a good team. … I thought it was really good coming out and to start competing after a losing weekend.”

Penn State looks to continue its dominance

After sweeping the Badgers Friday, the Nittany Lions won against Northwestern in straight sets Sunday.

Penn State is yet to lose a set this year. They have only allowed two Big Ten teams to go over 20 points against them in a set, and Wisconsin was the first to do so in two different sets.

However, baring a major setback, the Lions will continue to dominate opponents in the second half of the season.

“Teams lose for a variety of reasons,” Rose said. “Sometimes it’s health, sometimes it’s dissension, sometimes it’s lack of effort. And probably the most prevalent reason is you don’t play as well as the other team does. We are very confident in some situations, and I think when we are able to pass the ball well, we are able to put a lot of stress on the other teams in a lot of different areas of the court.”