Speaking before the team's meet against Pittsburgh, Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott said that qualifying for the NCAA Tournament is the ultimate goal for the women's team and that dual-meet efforts were much lower on the pecking order.

"Dual meets are no more than an opportunity to assess where we are with regards to training and or resting," Dorenkott said.

On Friday, the No. 16 Penn State women's swimming team never rested at Trees Pool in Pittsburgh, taking 12 of 13 events on its way to a convincing 159-84 over Pittsburgh on Senior Day.

Since returning from their training trip to Florida over Christmas break, the Nittany Lions have kicked it into another gear, with victories over powerhouse Indiana, Michigan State and West Chester.

The biggest factor has been the team's superior depth, and Friday was no exception, as the Lions missed winning every event by a mere 0.35 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.

Senior Susan Janoski said that the depth of the team is one of the keys to the team's success.

"We have a lot of different swimmers and it helps our confidence having someone able to win each event," Janoski said.

The Lions, who will next compete on Feb. 20 at the Big Ten Championships, were led by eight different individual winners, including junior Sally Anderson in the 1,000-yard freestyle, sophomore Deidre Dlugonski in the 200-yard freestyle and freshman Amberle Biedermann in the 200-yard butterfly.

The only double winner was again freshman standout diver Lisa Silvestri, who won the one- and three-meter springboard events.

Though Silvestri, according to Penn State diving coach Craig Brown, has been down on her performance lately despite her successes, Brown said she performed great on Friday, as did the whole team.

"I thought she really competed well against Pittsburgh, and it's an atrocious pool to dive in," Brown said.

With the season coming to an end, the Lions will have to switch focus now toward the Big Ten Championships, where the depth of the team will be tested once again. Though Brown feels the team will play the role of underdog, Janoski is confident that the team can repeat as champs.

"I think we are one of the favorites to win this year," Janoski said. "We were Big Ten champions last year and ... we just have to go out and have fun and swim well."

At 7-2 and moving up the polls quickly, the Lions will have just as good a chance as any team at the championships in Indiana in a week and a half, as long as they don't stop to rest.