Two top-10 teams and two guaranteed All-Americans faced off last night and have now turned their attention toward beating the upset-minded Illini.

Illinois has already taken down two undefeated top-10 teams and will now help decide who will win the Big Ten conference. Wednesday night, No. 4 Penn State beat No. 7 Ohio State to take over the conference standings. Now Ohio State is only a half game up on No. 5 Minnesota, who also sits just a game out of first place.

Think the Illini don’t have a bearing on the championship? Their next three games are against all three of the aforementioned squads. A victory against any one of those teams would knock that team out of championship contention.

First stop is Ohio State, whom the Illini crushed in their first meeting, sweeping the Buckeyes 3-0. The Buckeyes feature outside hitter Stacey Gordon, who is widely considered top in the nation as an offensive weapon. She is the current Big Ten Player of the Week after registering 27 digs and 30 kills in a match against Northwestern.

The Illini will then visit Happy Valley and play Penn State. For Illinois, happy has not been the case. Illinois has only won once on the road against Penn State. All-American setter Sam Tortorello led the Nittany Lion charge at Huff Hall when Penn State blew out the Illini 3-1, marking what head coach Don Hardin suggests is the first time in a long time that Illini fans have seen their team so dominated.

“We have been looking at the season in three-match increments and the way that it’s come out now, the three upcoming matches are all top-10 teams,” Hardin said. “The way we are choosing to look at it is there really aren’t any other teams that played so many top-10 opponents to get ready for tournament play. If we don’t beat them this time, and we beat them in the NCAA tournament because we raised our play during this stretch, then it’s all worthwhile.”

This weekend might be the toughest during the Illini schedule. They will be facing two teams who will contend for the national championship, but these matches could be affected by their previous match-ups with the Illini.

“I expect (Penn State and Ohio State) will be on their toes and really play great volleyball,” Hardin said. “They have a big match tonight with each other and then they have the time to be ready for us.

“Penn State beat us pretty badly – embarrassed us in our own gym – and could be confident on their home court. They may be a little overconfident.”