The Lady Lions (2-14) travel to Bloomington, Ind., for their Big Ten opener. They will take on the Hoosiers in a doubleheader today, and another twinbill tommorrow.

Key stats: The Hoosiers have a lineup featuring both speed and power, starring slugger Michelle Venturella and speedster Aimee Lonigro. Venturella leads the Big Ten in home runs (4), runs scored (20), walks (14) and slugging percentage (.647).four other categories. Lonigro leads the conference in steals, with 15 in as many attempts.

Preview: The Lady Lions will come off an almost two-week layoff to take on the Hoosiers, who lead the Big Ten with a 12-6 record. Coach Sue Rankin will send Leigh Bakun, who is 10th in the conference in ERA (2.83), against probable Indiana starter Gina Ugo, who is 8-2 and sixth in ERA (1.91), in game one. Gypsy Gooding, Beth Reeves, and Misty Hackett also expect to see action. The Lions were 1-3 versus Indiana last season.

Injuries: Catcher Jill Cowen (shoulder), first baseman Dana Burns (knee) and shortstop Valerie Serpico (knee) are questionable for this weekend's action.

Coach Sue Rankin says: "(The Hoosiers) are free swingers. They have some really good offensive players. Right now, they're number one in the conference, but I think we have a good chance against them."

Penn State will be competing against eight other teams tomorrow in the Quaker Invitationals at the University of Pennsylvania.

Key stats: Last weekend, four track and field members qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships. Kim and Kris Kelly and Kelli Hunt finished second, fourth and third, respectively, in the 10,000-meter run, and broke the necessary mark to qualify. Dayna Holston finished second overall in the javelin last weekend in the Raleigh Relays.

Injuries: Danielle Gilliatt, who has a leg stress fracture, is expected to return to the lineup next week. Mary Hohnka is probably out for the season with a back injury, but the possibility remains that she will return.

Preview: In their second outdoor meet of the spring season, the Lady Lions look to build strong records for Big Ten performances. Having already qualified four participants for NCAAs, the Lady Lions are allowing Hunt and the Kellys to take the meet off. Holston is the only NCAA qualifier who will be competing for Penn State this weekend.

This low-key event will be a chance for some members of the team to try different events. This meet is more for individual performances as there are no team scores. The Lady Lions were able to practice outside this week and get some much-needed experience.

Coach Teri Jordan says: "Several people have the ability (to qualify for NCAAs). They just have to do it in the next few weeks. I'm ready to see that happen."

Penn State (6-2, 0-2 in Big Ten) has two chances to win its first conference match of the season this weekend. The team will first face Purdue at 11 a.m. tomorrow, and then Illinois at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, both at the Penn State Tennis Center.

Key stats: Ivan Spinner is 8-0 in the spring season and will be facing Jerry Turek of Illinois, the Canadian national champion. Turek knocked Spinner out of the men's Big Ten Singles Championships, 6-2, 6-1, earlier this season. The rematch will highlight the weekend.

Injuries: Doug Schoenly, who plays No. 6 singles and part of the No. 3 doubles team, has been having shoulder trouble and is questionable for the weekend. If unable to play, he will be replaced by either Michael Tain or Brett Pollak.

Preview: With an undefeated record at home this season, and riding a five-game winning streak, the Lions are in a good position going into this weekend's matches. But the pressure is on Penn State to win a conference match, as it lost to both Minnesota and Iowa in its only Big Ten matches two weeks ago.

This weekend's competition also marks the end of the Lions' homestand. Next week, the team will travel to Bloomsburg and then will have four consecutive Big Ten matches on the road.

Coach Jan Bortner says: "To beat the Big Ten teams, its got to be a team effort. It's got to be all eight guys at the top of their game, and we haven't had that yet."

Beaver Field was not ready to host the No. 14 Buckeyes this weekend as scheduled, forcing the Nittany Lions to make some travel arrangements. They will begin the first of the four-game series at 2 p.m. today on Trautman Field in Columbus, Ohio. A doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m. tomorrow, and the finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.

Key stats: Ohio State (14-3) has finished first in the conference the past three years, and will open its Big Ten season with this homestand. Penn State (7-10) is 1-3 in Big Ten action.

Injuries: Pitcher Justin Craig is still sidelined with an elbow injury.

Preview: Penn State will start with righthander Dean Kerns, who pitched a one-hitter against Purdue in his last outing. He will be followed by Randy Geis, John Maggiore and Matt Weimer. On the mound for Ohio State will be Matt Beaumont, Chris Granata, Kevin Cannon and a pitcher to be decided.

Buckeye Coach Bob Todd said he is glad to get a new season underway, as it is a new test for his Buckeyes.

Coach Joe Hindelang says: "We're playing against an outstanding program. They've got great defense and hitting throughout the lineup, but that doesn't mean they're invincible."

Penn State travels to Charlottesville, Va., tomorrow for the Milton Abramson Memorial Invitational. Maryland, Liberty and Virginia Military Institute will be competing in the meet with Penn State and Virginia.

Key stats: Antonio Davis will be competing in the triple and long jump events. Distance runners Jake Bartholomy (3,000 meter steeplechase) and Bob Hamer (1,500 meter) will both look to place at the Invitational. Mark Wimmer will be competing in the 5,000 meter event.

Injuries: Brian Milne, the 1993 NCAA discus champion, has a herniated disc in his back and is questionable for the meet, Coach Harry Groves said.

Preview: The Nittany Lions are competing at the Invitational for the first time.

Coach Groves says: "It's an interesting proposition competing with five teams. You never know who is coming at you and from what direction. You're trying to hit pretty well in each event, so you don't get wiped out."

Seth Kane and Carrie Scherer will take to the road this weekend en route to Pittsburgh for the U.S. Senior National Diving Preliminaries. The competition begins at 10 a.m. today and continues through Sunday at Pitt's Trees Pool.

Key stats: Kane is expected to make a decent run for the 1-meter board, while Scherer has a better hold on the 3-meter dive. This meet is open to all ages. Diving Coach Craig Brown predicted the age range in the men's field to be 14 to 32 years old, and 14-25 for the women.

Preview: Divers placing in the top four this weekend will qualify for the U.S. Senior National Diving Championships, which are less than two weeks away. Chris Devine was also scheduled to make the trip, but his third place on 1-meter and fifth on 3-meter at last week's NCAA Championships automatically qualified him for Senior Nationals.

Coach Craig Brown says: "At this meet, we're gonna go for it all. If they hit the dives, then great. If they miss, well, what are you gonna do?"

The Lady Lions will be making up two previously postponed Big Ten matches against Iowa and Minnesota at home this weekend. The first match will be played against Iowa tomorrow at 4 p.m., then, with a break for Easter Sunday, play will resume against Minnesota on Monday.

Key stats: With six matches played so far, Penn State has a record of 5-1 and is 1-1 in conference play. Their only loss came against Illinois. Iowa beat Minnesota 5-4 in their only meeting this year.

Preview: Previously scheduled for Feb. 26-27, the matches against Iowa and Minnesota were postponed due to inclement weather. Now, with forecasts predicting sunny weather and warm temperatures for this weekend, the Lady Lions should finally get a chance to experience some much needed conference competition.

Coach Sue Whiteside says: "We've really worked hard at practices this last week and incorporated some new things into practice. Actually, I'm really looking forward to (the team) competing this weekend. They're playing with confidence and I think we're ready to play a match. These are matches that we definitely want to win. I see us in there with all these schools."

Four Penn State boxers compete at the National Collegiate Boxing Association Championships in Camp Hill. The action starts at 7 p.m. today in the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel and Convention Center.

Key stats: Senior Bryan Kirk (5-1) enters the ring at 132 pounds, while junior Vince Calio (3-4) will fight at 156 pounds. Freshman Scott Holsopple (1-1) will fight at 180 pounds and senior Nick Kent (4-3) is a contender in the 190-pound division.

Preview: Twenty-four bouts will be conducted today, with the winners moving on to the finals tomorrow at 7 p.m.