The Penn State women's tennis team will look to its veterans this season in hopes of returning to the highs the team reached in 2001.

It's been three years since the team went to the NCAA tournament, earned a top 50 ranking or even finished with a winning record.

The season started with tournament play in the fall, which Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said helped lay the foundation for the spring dual match season. Penn State struggled in early tournaments at Pennsylvania and Furman, but showed improvement at the USTA National Tennis Center Invitational and the Penn State Fall Classic.

"Certain people had a pretty good fall and got some games under their belt, but we had a lot of people banged up and we're just getting them back," Baker said.

Lone senior Leigh Ann Merryman got to the semifinals of the singles competition at the USTA National Tennis Center Invitational last fall. Merryman, who went 22-19 in the No. 2 singles spot last year, has become one of the team's leaders.

"She's a good, positive role model with a lot of experience and a good work ethic," Baker said.

The team can also look forward to having junior Jessica McKeown back this season. An injury kept her out of singles last year, but she played well in the fall.

"She's a vocal leader who says it like it is and holds her teammates accountable," Baker said.

Juniors Maaria Husain, Megan Marton, Sarah Spence, and sophomore Lindsay Downing also return.

Baker feels that the team is much deeper than last year and has especially improved in their doubles game.

She said the team would like to finish as one of the top three teams in the Big Ten and return to the NCAA tournament.

"They're lofty goals, but I think they're within our grasp," Baker said.

That would be a dramatic improvement from last season in which the team finished 2-8 in the Big Ten and 7-13 overall.