In a dominating performance this weekend, the Penn State women's tennis team righted the wayward ship that was becoming their season.

The Nittany Lions (2-3, 0-1 Big Ten) downed Temple (1-1) and Cornell (2-1), 5-2 and 6-1 respectively, at the Penn State Tennis Center, to pick up their first two victories of the season.

Feeling the pressure of possibly being winless entering the heart of the Big Ten schedule, the Lions took care of business.

"We started off against a couple of top 30 teams and came up a little short," assistant coach Ben Gabler said.

"We came in looking to get a couple of wins and build our confidence."

After winning two of three doubles matches against Temple to gain the crucial team point, the Lions then took four out of six singles matches to seal the win.

The bottom half of Penn State's six-person singles lineup, Junior Judy Wang, sophomore Leigh Ann Merryman and freshman Sarah Spence were particularly impressive.

The three combined to lose only two games in three matches.

"I think we all competed well," Merryman said.

"Being 0-3 this season, we knew we had to pick it up and we did. Any win is a good win and this will help our confidence."

Not everything went the Lions' way against Temple though.

The Owls' two top players, Danira Penic and Lara Ercegovic, defeated Penn State's Rebecca Ho and Maaria Husain respectively.

"Those were two matches we felt we should've come out on top of," Gabler said.

"We need to go back and make some adjustments. Temple played well, but we feel we're as strong as anybody at those top two spots."

With the ice of the winner's column broken, the Lions routed Cornell, winning eight of the nine contested matches in both singles and doubles.

One of the day's and the weekend's big winners was Wang.

The Egan, Minn. native went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles action over the weekend.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I played," Wang said. "I started off real well, but I started getting a little tight trying to protect the lead. I just need to keep my momentum going."

Head coach Buffy Baker stressed two things in practice this week, intensity and fundamentals. Facing competition, Baker felt her team gave a mixed response.

"I think at times we translated what we stress in practice into competition," Baker said.

"We need to realize that executing what we do in practice is what's going to take us to the next level."

Ho, an All-Big Ten pick in 2000 and Penn State's top singles player, had a tough weekend against top-flight competition, losing both singles matches and splitting in her double's responsibilities.

After dropping a 6-1, 6-3 decision to Penic on Friday, Ho lost a three set heartbreaker, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, to Cornell's Suzanne Wright.

"Rebecca isn't completely back from her ankle surgery," Baker said.

"She is really lacking matches and needs to get some more under her belt before she can completely come back."

Despite a few setbacks, this was the kind of weekend Penn State needed.

"It's good to get a win under our belt and its also good to see the result of our work. We knew it was coming," Baker said.