In the midst of studying for midterms and coming off a tough road trip where it dropped back-to-back matches, the MSU women's volleyball team is ready to get back in action during Homecoming weekend.

MSU (9-9 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) takes on No. 7 Wisconsin (15-2 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) and Northwestern (11-7 overall, 2-6 Big Ten) this weekend at Jension Field House.

The Spartans play Wisconsin on Friday at 7 p.m. and Northwestern on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The team is on a four-game losing streak and its chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament are getting smaller, but head coach Cathy George said the team is still remaining positive about the season.

"We were expected to beat nobody," George said. "Nobody has beaten Penn State and only a few teams have beaten Ohio State. We have fallen to teams that have been performing well in the conference."

George believes that despite the team's performance, the players shouldn't have anything to feel down about.

"If (men's basketball coach Tom) Izzo loses to Duke, he's not going to think he has the worst team in the world," George said.

Wisconsin comes into this week with only one loss in the Big Ten, putting it in second place. The Badgers are led by middle blocker Taylor Reineke, who has the second highest blocking average in the conference with 1.64 per game.

Sophomore outside hitter Katie Johnson should be back in action this weekend after missing two games with a left arm injury. Johnson said it has been tough watching the games from the sidelines.

"It's difficult not being able to play in the game," Johnson said.

"I see some things that we can do better and that we need to work on."

The Spartans have yet to win a Big Ten home game, as the team is currently 0-3 on its home court.

Still, Johnson said she'd rather be at Jenison than on the road.

"It's always great to come home," Johnson said. "We're ready to get going."