STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The best college team in women's volleyball plays on a football-crazed campus. Not even Joe Paterno's 11-1 team can stack up with what undefeated Penn State has accomplished on the volleyball court.

The unbeaten Nittany Lions (35-0) are on an unprecedented run of success as they seek a second consecutive national title, and the school's third overall.

Penn State, already the first team in NCAA history to complete a regular season without losing a single game, set another record with a 3-0 sweep of Western Michigan in the NCAA regional semifinals. The Nittany Lions have now won 106 consecutive games, breaking the old mark if 105 set by Florida in 2003.

The Nittany Lions also have now won 61 consecutive matches, another NCAA record.

"I've certainly never ever seen something like this in volleyball," said Karch Kiraly, the three-time Olympic gold medalist who will be a television analyst for the regional final Saturday against California.

"Having not lost a set ... to me it's like a basketball team going a whole season with the opponents never having a shot to win in the end," Kiraly said in a phone interview.

Heavy favorites entering Friday, Penn State played loose in winning in typically dominating fashion. After Megan Hodge's kill ended the match, the team gathered on the court in a circle, exchanged smile and high-fives and trotted off to the locker room.

Another record? No big deal.

"I actually didn't even know," setter Alisha Glass said as two teammates shook their heads side-to-side.

"I don't care," veteran coach Russ Rose said.

For all their dominance, Penn State volleyball plays in the massive shadow cast by the Rose Bowl-bound football team.

Not that it bothers senior Nicole Fawcett.

"It's never wanting to be the main focus. Penn State is JoePa," said Fawcett, the Big Ten Player of the Year. "You think of Penn State, you think of JoePa and that's fine with us, but we would also like volleyball to make a name for itself."

Success isn't new to the program. Penn State and Stanford are the only schools to have participated in every NCAA tournament, since its inception 28 years ago in 1981.

Stanford is the last team to win even a game against Penn State — in the 2007 NCAA championship match eventually won by Penn State. Stanford also handed Penn State its last loss, a five-game defeat on Sept. 15, 2007, in New Haven, Conn.

The two powers could meet again to decide the 2008 NCAA title; Stanford faces Florida in another regional semifinal Friday night in Colorado.

A win Saturday at Rec Hall over Cal would send Penn State to the national semifinals in Omaha, Neb., next week.

Despite the talk about winning streaks, Rose has his players well-schooled in the practice of setting their sights on the NCAA title.

"It's a big thing to go undefeated the whole season," Glass said earlier this week. "But at the same time, now that we're in the tournament it doesn't really matter what we did."

Penn State has become a volleyball giant during Rose's 30 years on the bench. Rose is known for his dry, sometimes sardonic wit, as well as a hard-nosed, "tough love" style of coaching on the practice court.

But he was understated during an abbreviated open practice Thursday afternoon as he paced the sideline, quietly chatting with players or onlookers.

"Less is more. We don't need to reinvent the wheel," Rose said. "No need for overtraining."

Not with a veteran roster dotted with standout players.

The best of the crop include senior Christa Harmotto, last year's Big Ten player of the year as a junior; and Hodge, who took the honor as a freshman two seasons ago.

Then there's Fawcett, a devastating outside hitter who's having a ball in her last few weeks on the volleyball court.

The smile often wedged on her face during a recent practice provided the perfect cover for a powerful swing that can intimidate opponents.

Fawcett, like her teammates, isn't content with the winning streak unless it ends with another title. For all her experience, playing games still makes her nervous.

"I get jittery every single game. I get clammy. I'm clammy right now," Fawcett said with a slight grin, flexing her sweaty hands in front of her on a table.

And for all the spikes, blocks and floor-burning digs, Penn State players say the key to success has been team chemistry. Everyone chips in with leadership and keeping each other loose, not just the veterans like Fawcett and Harmotto.

It's a formula that has Penn State continuing to produce elite teams in a sport that to casual observers might be best known for its West Coast roots.

In volleyball circles, Rose has built one of the most respected programs in the country, his success having earned him entry in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

"If they run the table," Kiraly said, "they will have to be put up there with any team in any sport as the most dominant season that we have seen."