Coming off their best season in history, the Penn State women's tennis team started the spring semester — the season's most important — with a whimper.

Three straight losses to Ohio State, Penn and Princeton have sent the Nittany Lions off to a rocky start on their quest to return to the NCAA tournament.

This weekend, however, Penn State (0-3, Big Ten 0-1), in a rare home appearance, has the chance to break into the win column and get the season on the right track.

Temple and Cornell will invade the Indoor Tennis Center on today and Saturday for a pair of dual meets.

While both matches will be a notch lower in competition for the Lions, both are also extremely valuable for the team.

"Right now, we're not in the position to say anyone is a step down, but they're not at the same level of most of the Big Ten teams. It's still a great opportunity," head coach Buffy Baker said.

Temple and Cornell are two of only six home meets this season for Penn State.

Two players, Danira Penic and Lara Ercigovic anchor Temple, a team with only five players on its roster.

Both natives of Croatia, Penic and Ercigovic are ranked near the top of the ITA's eastern region singles rankings rankings. Penic and Ercigovic also combine to form a potent doubles tandem.

The Owls lost their only other dual meet thus far, a 0-7 whitewashing at the hands of William and Mary.

Cornell, on the other hand, has been on a roll to start the season. The Big Red are 2-0 after beating St. Bonaventure and Colgate both by 7-0 scores. Cornell did not drop a set in either meet.

Cornell's top player is Susanne Wright.

Wright recently captured the Flight A championship at the Cornell indoor classic.

She also teamed up with Daniela DelPrete to capture the same honors in the doubles competition.

"This will be a step up in competition for us," Cornell assistant Tom Brownlie said of travelling to Penn State.

"We don't take any different of an approach than with a league match, but we realize this is a good opportunity to play a good team outside of our league."

Penn State will, for the most part, stay with the same lineup from their first three matches.

Senior Rebecca Ho at No.1 followed by two freshman, Maaria Husain and Megan Marton.

Junior Judy Wang, sophomore Leigh Ann Merryman and freshman Jessica McKewon round out the top six for Penn State.

"They are starting to prove themselves in their positions," Baker said. "I will consistently put out our lineup in the strongest possible position."

Husain has proven particularly valuable.

"Maaria came to us as a walk-on and has been a tremendous asset," Baker said.

"Anytime you can get a player of her caliber as a walk-on its great for your program."

Ho, a returning All-Big Ten performer, is still feeling the affects of an ankle injury she suffered last semester.

Baker also said that she planned to completely rearrange the doubles lineup for this weekend. After the tough start, the Lions returned to the basics this week in practice.

"The coaches stressed consistency this week," Marton said. "We did a lot of basic drills and have prepared really well. We're all really psyched up and this weekend should have an awesome outcome."

Psyched up or not, this is an important weekend for Penn State.

"It's exciting to get out in front of our home fans and its important to get some more matches under our belt," Baker said.