Being a freshman isn't easy.

Getting used to new classes, trying to get along with roommates from different parts of the globe and stomaching food from the dining commons that seems laced with laxatives.

Now there's that plus the drama that girls add to their everyday lives and playing volleyball for one of the top teams in the country. That is what several girls are doing when they step on the court for the No. 11 Penn State Women's Volleyball team each and every day.

Apparently that isn't too much of a problem for a few of these freshman who have stepped up to the challenge that is the Big Ten and have answered some questions that Penn State volleyball faithful were asking about the youngest members of the team.

Three freshmen in particular; Cassy Salyer, Kris Brown, and red-shirt freshman Kim Holm have turned heads after all contributed in the kick-off of the Big Ten this past weekend in Michigan.

Salyer, a six-foot-five middle-hitter has held her ground all season long, recording 110 kills on the season, good enough for fourth on the squad. But in her Big Ten debut, she finished with 16 kills and a team-high three aces in two games against No. 14 Michigan State and Michigan.

After missing practice all of last week with flu-like symptoms, Brown showed that she was ready for whatever the Big Ten had to throw at her, finishing with 17 digs and one ace on the weekend.

"I thought Kris started off very well against Michigan State in the first game, she made some great digs," Penn State coach Russ Rose said.

The most experienced of the three, Holm, impressed Rose on Friday night, filling in rather nicely at the outside hitter position, compiling 13 kills on the night. Only two upperclassmen, captain Cara Smith and junior Ashley Pederson, topped that number.

"I thought Kim did a nice job, especially against Michigan State," Rose said. "She started off good, she had a couple of nice blocks and took some good swings at the ball."

Now the man who runs this chess game, Rose, knows that in order to get something out of all his freshman he has to be tougher on them than he is to be on his older players.

"Why wouldn't I want to be hard on the freshmen?" Rose said. "I say to them all the time, 'If you want me to back off, I can back off. But if I'm going to back off I'm going to replace you.' "

The freshmen showed Rose that his hard-nosed coaching is working by showing no signs of being intimidated in front of two big crowds in their first contests against Big Ten opponents last weekend.

"We were ready to play this weekend," Holm said about her and her younger counterparts. "We've been working hard and we were definitely ready."

This tough-love style Rose insists is nothing new for him, and after he gets to know each girls' personality he picks a style to go after them with.

"I think I've been pretty hard on the freshman, and I've been hard on the freshman for 25 years at Penn State," Rose said. "And if I coach for another extended period I hope to be hard on the freshman as long as I continue to do it."

To think that one of the problems with this team is their lack of depth, Big Ten foes should be wary, as two other freshmen, Ashley Fidler and Brooke Phillips, who didn't get to see the court this weekend will get court time this weekend.

So after their first week as Big Ten athletes, the girls have proven that they are not just along for the ride, but instead are key pieces in the puzzle.

And they hope that when all the pieces are put together, the final work will look like the team holding up the Big Ten trophy for the 7^th time.