After a spring break rampage through Dixie, the women's tennis team has its first home matches of the season at the Penn State Tennis Club. The Lady Lions host Cornell at 11 tomorrow morning and St. Bonaventure at noon Sunday.

The team returned from its visit down South with three victories and one match postponed due to rain. The College of Charleston (S.C.) was the first team to fall, 7-2. Next, the Lady Lions shut out Georgia Southern, 9-0.

After their match against Armstrong State (Ga.) was rained out, the Lady Lions returned to their home base at Hilton Head, S.C., where they beat Old Dominion, 8-1. The win avenged a 5-4 loss to the Lady Monarchs last year.

"That was a good finish of the spring trip for us," Coach Jan Bortner said. "They (Old Dominion) have a good team. They have a veteran team. Four of their players returned from last year's team, so we played a good solid match, and definitely finished up that southern trip on a strong note."

The Lady Lions have never lost to Cornell. Bortner knows, however, that Cornell is not a team to be taken lightly.

"Anytime you play anybody in the Ivy League conference, you're going to get a good match," Bortner said. "The Ivy conference -- for the East, for our region -- is always strong, very strong. Cornell, although we've had good success against them in years past, they're not the type of team you can overlook."

Cornell coach Linda Meyers also expects the match to be tough.

"Playing Penn State is always a challenge," Meyers said.

Among the players Meyers expects to give her team trouble are Penn State's top two, No. 1 Kelly Erven and No. 2 Claudia Karabedian. Meyers noted that Erven and Karabedian will have a physical advantage, especially Karabedian -- Cornell's No. 2 player, Jen Kenas, is only 4'10".

In order for Kenas to defeat Karabedian, Meyers said that Kenas will have to finish off the points quickly, rather than playing defensively. Likewise, Cornell's No. 1 player, Jennifer Dempsey, will have to put her shots away against Erven.

Along with Dempsey and Kenas, Meyers is counting on strong performances from No. 3 Judy Beckenbach, No. 4 Dolly Chugh, and No. 5 Carol Katz, as well as the No. 1 doubles team of Beckenbach and Kenas.

St. Bonaventure, which finished ninth in last year's Atlantic 10 tournament, has primarily emphasized its fall schedule and is only now beginning to strengthen its spring schedule, Bortner said. Nonetheless, the game must not be underemphasized -- with only three other A-10 meets in the season, every one, will be very important in determining the seedings for the post-season tournament.

The rest of the Lady Lions' lineup is No. 3 Lisa Thomas, No. 4 Cathy Kissell, No. 5 Jennifer Farrington and No. 6 Kerri Kohr. The doubles teams are No. I Erven and Karabedian, No. 2 Thomas and Kohr and No. 3 Kissell and Farrington.