They're experiencing the thrill and excitement of competing in the Big Ten tournament --especially in their initial season.

The water polo club members will for the first time face the challenges that the Big Ten conference offers, including host-team, No. 4 Michigan. And a championship season is a distinct possibility.

Dustin Anderson said that a title "is not out of the question. If we're on, I don't see the Big Ten Championship out of the picture."

Outlooks for the tournament are fairly optimistic even with the knowledge that the team could be facing three other nationally ranked teams. Northwestern, Michigan State, and Ohio State are all possible opponents for the team.

"I think when we play to the best of our ability, we can hang with any of those teams," Anderson said.

Brian Donato added, "We're looking to perform better in the Big Ten, which is our league."

An advantage that the No. 6 Penn State squad possesses is that none of its opponents have played the squad yet. This could produce a beneficial effect as the other teams will be at a loss strategy-wise.

"The other teams don't know what to expect from us," Donato said. "It's going to be really good to play out there."

In order to pay for the trip to Michigan, the team will be cleaning up Beaver Stadium, along with the boxing club, to raise funds.

"We're only helped out a little bit by Penn State -- we're not given much except for breaks in pool time," Anderson said. Money is needed to pay for hotel rooms and the travel expenses for the 12 players going to Michigan on Nov. 12.

Over the weekend, the squad journeyed to Rensselaer Poly Institute to compete in the Eastern Championships. The team members defeated No. 18 Wesleyan and No. 19 Colgate, while losing to "arch-rival" No. 11 University of Pennsylvania and eventual tournament winner No. 5 Williams College. The team finished sixth overall out of 30 teams, including those who were not invited to the tournament.

"The losses we have were to excellent teams," said Anderson.