On Saturday there was a black cloud hanging somewhere over Champaign, and the black cloud followed the Illinois women's volleyball team to Madison, Wis.

Both the football and volleyball squads dropped games to the Badgers — games where the Illini could have squeaked out victories. Though the football game was depressing, the squad was not riding a nine-game win streak into the game. The streak had been so long that it was surprising to hear that the netters had dropped theirs in a four-game thriller between two evenly matched teams.

The squad was able to squeak out a victory in the first game 30-28, but after the close victory they dropped the next three.

Despite the loss, the Illini did shine with good play and more pronounced leadership.

"There is key leadership," Illinois head coach Don Hardin said. "Lisa (Argabright) was able to hit .455 with consistent hitting, and Erin (Virtue) made some very good passes. The leadership is clearly pronounced and showed no signs of getting shaky. I am very confident in them."

Home-court advantage was a major factor in Saturday's match and could have been the difference between two very evenly matched teams. Wisconsin faithful were ready for the Illini to come to town when over 6,000 fans arrived to cheer for their team.

"They had home court and kept pushing — it was close every game," junior Lauren Harks said. "Six thousand-plus fans is home game advantage. The first game we stole from them we were able to shut them up, but when Wisconsin started making big plays in the second, third and fourth games their fans went crazy."

To keep progressing through the year, the Illini know they will have to win in tough environments and put losses behind them.

"We should be able to fight through tough crowds though," Harks said. "We could have played better."

"We stayed together, we came in to a tough environment and our goal was to work hard, and we did," Argabright said. "We are just as good as that team and it will be different when they come to Huff; for now we just need to focus on Iowa and Minnesota."

Despite the close match, the girls are putting the game into perspective. With a full week of practice before the team goes into Iowa the women should be ready.

"We can work on defensive adjustments and hitting efficiency," Hardin said. "We have to work on passing breakdowns. It makes it hard to make plays and score points when the setter is running down balls."