As the women's tennis team hosts the Nittany Lion Invitational at 9 a.m. tomorrow and Sunday, it will entertain a Division III team, a Division II team, and a Division I team. Or at least part of a Division I team.

Pitt, one of the four teams in the field, is not bringing a full team to the tournament. As a result, Coach Jan Bortner plans to place some more players, and expects that as many as 12 to 14 Lady Lions will play this weekend.

The Invitational means different things to different people. To Bortner, it means a chance for the players to show what they can do without worrying about team scores, which won't be tallied.

Bortner also wants to see how some of his players fare against tough competition.

The Invitational is divided into four "flights," with each flight containing two players or doubles from each team. The singles competition will be split into four flights, the doubles into two.

With the absence of some Pitt players from the competition, two spots have opened up in the A flight, which contains the No. 1 and No. 2 players, and Bortner intends to place No. 3 Lisa Thomas and No. 4 Kathy Kissel in that flight to "see what they can do."

For Division II Clarion University, it means another display of the talents of No. 1 Lisa Warren, described by Bortner as "one of the top Division II players."

For Division III Elizabethtown College, a young team with six freshmen, the Invitational is more a chance to prepare for its regular season.

"I don't expect that we're going to surprise anybody," Elizabethtown coach Robert Schott said. "In our conference, our opening matches are probably the toughest matches we'll have all year. If we win, we're in good shape. If we lose, we're basically out of the running. We need to get . . . match-play experience."

Right now, Schott's team rests on the abilities of No. 1 Jodi Weidman, although he is impressed with freshman No. 2 Laurie Herbert.

Bortner also believes his team needs experience -- with the outdoors. So, he would like this tournament to be an outdoor one.

"We're hoping that the weather holds up," Bortner said. "We need to play some matches outside to get used to the elements."