[media-credit name=’JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]After suffering a tough five-game loss to No. 2 Penn State last Sunday, the No. 8 Wisconsin volleyball team (17-2, 9-1 Big Ten) is looking to begin a new winning streak this weekend as it travels to take on unranked Indiana (14-8, 5-5) and Purdue (13-8, 6-4).

“There is still a lot of season left, and we know that it’s one match, and we have to learn from it and that’s it,” senior libero Jocelyn Wack said of the Penn State match. “It’s behind us now. We are just working extra hard this week for the second half of the Big Ten because anything can happen on any night, and we have to be ready for it.”

While the Badgers did suffer a setback against the Nittany Lions, the Badgers were able to learn from the match and move forward as they entered the second half of the Big Ten season.

“We definitely feel like we can speed up our offense a little bit more, and a lot of that has to do with me getting the balls out there faster to the hitters,” senior setter Jackie Simpson said. “Also just working our middles in transition. We definitely have been able to find them, and the more we do that, I think the stronger we are going to get.”

Wisconsin’s first test in the second half of the conference season will be a young Indiana team — who the Badgers swept in their previous match-up at the Field House Oct. 6. However, even though Indiana has only gone 2-2 — including a win against in-state rival Purdue — it has improved as a team since the last meeting.

“Indiana is running a few different things offensively,” head coach Pete Waite said. “They are running a few more plays offensively, so we are going to have to be ready for that.”

One player Wisconsin is going to have to focus on is Indiana’s junior outside hitter Erica Short, who leads the team with 4.72 kills per game — good for sixth in the Big Ten. The Badgers were able to limit Short last time the teams faced off as she only tailed 10 kills but hit .000 for the match.

“If we serve tough and we keep them out of their offense, then our block can set up on their top hitters,” Waite said. “They’ve become a team that has more options as offensive threats, so it’s a little tougher, but [Short] is a great athlete, and she is going to get a lot of swings.”

Beside focusing on getting the win, one Badger is going to set another record Friday night. With 1,957 career digs, Wack is already Wisconsin’s all-time dig leader. However, with her first save against the Hoosiers, Wack will move into sole possession of second place in Big Ten history.

“It’s kind of cool,” Wack said of the achievement. “It definitely shows the progress I’ve made in the last couple of years. It is a great tribute to the coaches and the players that I’ve played with.”

After taking on the Hoosiers Friday night, the Badgers will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on the Boilermakers Saturday.

Since their last meeting — a sweep by Wisconsin — Purdue has gotten on a roll, winning three of its last four to move into third place in the Big Ten.

Because Purdue has a balanced offense with three players — Stephanie Lynch (3.88), Danita Merlau (3.73) and Samantha Mader (2.94) –averaging almost three kills per game or more, Wisconsin is going to have to play big at the net in order to slow the Boilermaker offense down.

“The biggest thing is making sure we have our team block set up, so we can set up our defenders around it,” Simpson said. “When we do that, I think we are a real strong defensive team, both blocking and digging.”

However, the Badgers are confident they will have a successful weekend and begin the second half of the Big Ten season on the right foot.

“We know we’ve always had good matches against Purdue,” Waite said. “We’ve played well at their place, so this group has a lot of confidence in their game. They left the Penn State match with even more confidence that they can battle toe-to-toe with great teams and learn from it and be even better.”

Besides trying to take care of business against Indiana and Purdue this weekend, Wisconsin knows it is going to have to bring its A-game the rest of the year if it still wants a shot at a Big Ten title.

“We have to go out there every weekend and play our best volleyball,” Simpson said. “Our team has the motivation to do that.”