The Penn State women’s volleyball team got two sweeps this past weekend to join Illinois atop the Big Ten standings. The wins extended the Nittany Lions’ winning streak to ten games and pushed their home winning streak to 88 straight matches.

The Nittany Lions won comfortably over Wisconsin on Friday night in what easily could have been a trap game. Senior Blair Brown led the Nittany Lions with 14 kills, and the team as a whole hit at an astounding .467 percent. Coach Russ Rose was worried about the 12 service errors for Penn State, but they did not seem to hurt the team as they went on to win 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-12).

With the win on Friday, Penn State knew that they would take a share of the lead in the Big Ten standings with a win over Illinois. They did just that, taking the match 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-18). Brown once again led the Nittany Lions in kills, while freshmen Ariel Scott and Deja McClendon also contributed double-digit amounts. Illinois beat Penn State earlier this year by coming back from two sets down, but the Nittany Lions made sure that would not happen again by jumping out to an early lead in set three to put the match away.

Penn State is now 23-4 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten thanks to the two weekend sweeps. If the Nittany Lions win their remaining four games, they will be assured of at least a share of the Big Ten title. This weekend, they play their final two regular season home games before heading on the road to finish the season.

Upcoming schedule:

Wednesday: vs. Ohio State, 7 p.m.
Friday: vs. Northwestern, 7 p.m.