Struggling netwomen kickoff home schedule against Iowa, Minnesota

The Penn State women's tennis team will start taking stock for the rest of the season with its first home matches of the spring this weekend.

The Lady Lions will take on Iowa at 10 a.m. tomorrow and Minnesota at 10 a.m. Sunday. Both matches will be held at the Penn State Tennis Center.

"All of the Big Ten teams are equally challenging," sophomore Alison Barnett said. "Our lineup has a lot of depth and if we play the way I know we can, we'll beat both teams."

Barnett and her doubles partner Pilar Montgomery are the No. 1 doubles team for Penn State and boast a No. 22 national ranking. This type of success usually carries with it demands from the rest of the team. However, Montgomery said she does not feel this strain.

"I don't feel pressure from the rest of the team," Montgomery said. "I think that if I win it's for myself. Our other doubles teams play really well and that takes the pressure off."

The Lions are not the only one who boast a national ranking. Natalya Dawaf and Emily Bampton, the No. 2 doubles team for the Hawkeyes, is ranked No. 41 in the nation.

With the team's 6-6 overall record, 1-2 in the Big Ten, Hawkeye coach Paul Wardlaw believes any of the doubles teams on his squad could easily have earned this recognition.

"We're pretty much dead even from top to bottom," Wardlaw said. "We have a lot of depth and that helps us."

Wardlaw, however, is worried that although his team has talent, it may not have enough to defeat the Lions on their home court.

"If they're better than us we're in trouble," Wardlaw said. "You can have a good (doubles) team, but you better have enough of them."

Wardlaw is in his first year as coach of the Hawkeyes and admitted he really did not know what to expect from the Lions. He added that if his team concentrates on what it does best, hopefully it will come out on top.

With the comfort of the home court and the energy of the fans, the Lions believe that solid efforts from Iowa and Minnesota will not be enough.

"The Penn State crowd is real into it," sophomore Kelley Margolis said. "Everybody is pumped up and we can feel the energy. We've worked real hard and we're ready."

Margolis and the other Lions know they are in for two scrappy matches and are confident they will come out on top. However, they are not going to hand their opponents anything.

"We're out there until the last point and we're not going to give them anything," Margolis said. "We just have to compete and be mentally tough. Everyone wants to play well, but if your game isn't on you can still grit it out."