Anxious, excited and ready to prove itself.

This is the attitude that the Penn State women's tennis team takes with it to Columbus, Ohio, this weekend to compete in its first tournament of the fall season, the OSU/Prince Cup.

"This will probably be one of our tougher tournaments of the fall season," said Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker. "I'd just like to see them compete."

The Nittany Lions will face off against stiff competition right away, competing against Notre Dame, Baylor, LSU, Tulane and host Ohio State in the six-team tournament.

The young team, however, does not appear to be intimidated or nervous.

"We're not nervous at all," said sophomore Megan Marton. "We look forward to a high level of competition right off the bat."

Although the Lions just recently began official practice on Tuesday, they feel prepared, and are anxious to compete.

"We are definitely excited, focused, and ready to get going," Marton said.

Baker has made it known to the team that there is no clear-cut No. 1, and everybody has their shot at competing. The Ohio State tournament will utilize free seeding, meaning two players from the same team cannot face each other in the first round.

This makes it possible for the No. 1 player from one school to square off against the No. 8 player from another school.

Other tournaments the team competes in this year will have all the No. 1 players competing against each other, all the No. 2 seeds competing against each other, and so on.

"I like this format," Baker said. "It's wide open, you're in control of your own destiny."

Baker is anxious to see her players compete against some extremely strong competition, and possibly gain confidence by knocking off a No. 1 player from another school.

"It's one big draw," Baker said. "It gives us a chance to compete against the best and could be a great stepping stone or confidence builder for any of these players."

The players too are excited about their roster being wide open, with anyone having a shot at the No. 1 seed for later tournaments, and the spring season.

"I'm very excited because we've been working really hard," said junior Leigh Ann Merryman. "I love competing and just want to improve."

Marton echoed Merryman's sentiments, and also looks forward to competing for the No. 1 spot on the team.

"I think I step up my game when I play someone who is supposedly better than me," Marton said.