[media-credit name=’MATTHEW KUTZ/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]As the Badgers approach their rematch with Penn State, the signs might point to a season sweep for the Nittany Lions.

No. 3 Penn State (19-2, 10-0 Big Ten) comfortably parked itself atop the Big Ten volleyball standings with a two-game lead, thanks to a perfect first half of the season.

But while the Lions are clicking on all cylinders, the Badgers (16-3, 8-2), who slipped four spots in the rankings to No. 11, have sputtered a bit at midseason. With an illness plaguing senior outside hitter and co-captain Aubrey Meierotto, UW barely got by Michigan State in five games, then lost ground in the conference race with a heartbreaking defeat — 16-14 in the fifth game — at unranked Michigan.

"Aubrey brings so much to the team in a couple of different areas," said head coach Pete Waite. "She is a great attacker with great pace on the ball. She's able to block some of the best hitters in the conference, and she probably has the toughest serve on our team.

"You take those three factors out, and you've got to make up a lot to stay at the level we've been playing," Waite continued.

Now, with Meierotto expected to return for Friday night's match at University Park, the Badgers will try to recover and steal a win against Penn State tonight, followed by a match with Ohio State (14-5, 7-3), just one game back and nipping at Wisconsin's heels.

With the surprising loss to Michigan, and two upcoming games that UW could potentially lose, the Badgers are determined to not tumble from their elite status in the Big Ten.

"[The Michigan loss] motivated us. That game showed us how much harder we have to work," outside hitter Audra Jeffers said. "I think it was just a great learning experience for everyone, and it's helped us prepare for this weekend."

Outside hitter Maria Carlini is coming off the best match of her career, posting a personal-best 29 kills against the Wolverines. Obviously, Carlini found it difficult to enjoy her breakout match in defeat.

"I just wish we could have come out with the 'W,'" Carlini said. "It was hard, losing 16-14 in the fifth game. It was just tough. But everyone battled, everyone fought hard."

Carlini said that the Badgers learned some things from a lesser Michigan team that can be put into effect against Penn State.

"It taught us that we have to be aggressive right from the get-go, and not wait until we're down four or five points before we start to really play our game," she said. "It taught us we need to be stronger when we do get the lead and maintain it, to not let anyone take it from us."

On Oct. 8, the Lions came into the Field House and were greeted by a crowd of 6,774 fans, the third-largest attendance in the country this year. Seeing as Penn State was unfazed by the road atmosphere, the Badgers have had to undertake some extra preparation before going to University Park.

"Where we thought we were working hard, we weren't working hard enough," Jeffers said. "This week, everyone has come in with the mentality that we just have to step it up every play in practice, every drill, and just work a lot harder as a team."

Like any good team, Wisconsin has kept a short-term memory when it comes to past results against both the Lions and the Buckeyes. The Ohio State match on Oct. 7, one night before the Penn State defeat, was just as decisive, but fell in UW's favor.

"We're trying not to focus on those matches, we're trying to look at what we did wrong when we played Penn State the last time, what we need to improve on," Jeffers said. "We're not dwelling on the loss or celebrating the win, we're just going to move on and try to beat [both teams] this weekend."

Waite said the team is staying positive about its chances to knock off a faster Penn State squad by remembering that upsets do happen.

"We've got to realize that on any given day, anybody can play great ball," Waite said. "Michigan had been a team at the middle of the pack, but they are very capable of playing with the best in the conference."

"Any time you're a higher-ranked team, people are going to go after you," he continued. "So obviously, against Penn State, we're going to have to raise our level of play and the speed of our game to stay right with them."