The Penn State softball team continues its pre-conference season this weekend.

The Nittany Lions will travel to Las Vegas to play in the UNLV Tri-Tournament. Saturday will see the team play a doubleheader against Mississippi State and Sunday it will play a two-game set against UNLV

The tournament is the team's second this season. Last week it played in the Aggie Invitational. In that tournament the Lions played the No. 4 team in the country, Alabama. This weekend the team will face its second nationally ranked team when it plays the No. 23 Bulldogs of Mississippi State.

Last season the Lions lost to the Bulldogs in a very close game. Despite the loss, the team is not worried about revenge. It is motivated by something else.

"I think competing against a ranked opponent gives us a little motivation because we are trying to be ranked ourselves," third baseman Jennifer Tripken said.

This weekend's doubleheader format is a little different from the last tournament, in which the Lions played two different teams each day. In this tournament they will face the same team twice in a day.

This may help the team in its progression toward conference competition.

"I think the doubleheaders will help us prepare for Big Ten competition because we do play some of those teams back to back," Tripken said.

To prepare for the rest of the season the team is trying to continue to get better in all aspects of the game. One of the key areas the team will try to improve on is defense.

"The defense needs to handle all 21 outs," coach Robin Petrini said. "That's what we didn't do last weekend, and it cost us. If we do handle all of them, we will be in good shape."

One of the pitchers who will try to get some of those outs is freshman Marisa Hanson. Hanson played well in her first collegiate start at the Aggie Invitational, going nine innings before giving up her first run. She said that she thinks the she and the team will only continue to get better as the season continues.

With games under it's belt the team feels it will be more prepared going into the tournament.

"We are definitely a little more prepared," Petrini said. "Each weekend we should get a little better."