The women's tennis team enters its 1991 spring opener against Maryland at 2:30 today with a "definite lineup change" from the fall. But that doesn't worry Coach Sue Whiteside.

"We're strong all the way down," she said. "I think they are really going to be up for the fact we're playing a match."

Following weeks of strength training and challenge matches, today's match at the Indoor Tennis Courts provides Whiteside with a chance to see her new lineup in action against a basically unknown Maryland team.

"You never know what to expect from (Maryland)," Whiteside said. "They have always had good tennis teams."

Penn State had been scheduled to face Maryland during the fall season, but injuries forced the Lady Terrapins to pull out of the match.

Senior Kelly Erven returns for the Lady Lions at No. 1 singles, the spot she has held for the past three years. Freshman Tammy Okins-Nguyen, who also has fall experience, will play at No. 2 singles, while Jen Farrington, freshman Kristin Kovalik, Kerri Cohr and Cathy Kissell will play at Nos. 3-6, repectively.

Penn State's No. 1 doubles team (Ervin and Ann Slocom), which finished 4th in the Eastern regional rankings, will begin the spring season without Slocom, who is out with an injury. Whiteside said Slocom's replacement will be Cohr. Competing at No. 2 doubles will be Farrington and Kissell, while the freshman tandem of Okins-Nguyen and Kovalik will play No. 3.

Whiteside said that the lineup changes in doubles because of Slocom's injury will be a big test for the Lady Lions against Maryland.

"(There is) a little more pressure for Jen and Cathy. . . (but)I'm not worried about the injuries."

Despite the lineup changes, the Lady Lions are anxious for the matchup with Maryland.

"The last couple of weeks we've just been playing challenge matches," Kovalik said. "It will be good to play against someone else."