With the Big Ten Tournament looming around the corner, there is still one more meet to go before preparations for the post-season can begin.

The men's swimming and diving team is set to take on Rutgers (7-2, 6-1) tomorrow at 12 p.m. at the McCoy Natatorium. This meet will give the team one last test before preparing for the Big Ten Tournament, which takes place at the end of the month.

With the team's core of six seniors swimming in front of the home crowd for the final time, this meet will be both challenging and emotional. Senior captain Bob Molettiere is just hoping that plenty of people will come out to support the team. While he feels this is just another opportunity to get up and race as hard as possible, he is still excited.

"Because it's senior day, it's going to be really exciting," he said. "But it's still no different from any other meet."

Head coach Bill Dorenkott has been emphasizing the importance of performing well in the post-season tournaments. However, he is not looking toward the Big Ten Tournament before this meet. Rutgers is coming off a big win over reigning Atlantic 10 champion Massachusetts. The Scarlet Knights also have the current reigning swimmer of the week in captain Dan Samrov.

"Rutgers is a vastly improved team," Dorenkott said. "They are well-coached and will present some great racing opportunities."

The No. 20 Nittany Lions (4-3, 1-1) recently split in a tri-meet with two other Big Ten teams, beating Purdue and losing to Michigan. Despite some disappointing losses this season, to Virginia and Florida, Dorenkott is satisfied with the progress the team has made. He feels the team is on track and has a great deal of confidence in all of his swimmers.

"I try to keep it simple. Preparation leads to confidence and confidence leads to success. If we're prepared, we'll get the job done," Dorenkott said.

While the majority of the swimmers are excited for this final meet of the season, they are unsure of their ability to swim really well at this point in the season.

In terms of training, times are beginning to taper off due to the team being in a period of rest.

Junior Eugene Botes is happy with the work the team has put in, but stressed the importance of being mentally prepared.

"I'm happy that the team is in such good shape," he said.

"As a team, we've worked really hard, especially in the last half of the season. I think we'll be ready to go (against Rutgers.)"