With a lot of momentum coming from a string of victories over the last two weekends, the Penn State women's tennis team is hungry for more matches.

"When you have confidence like this, you just want to keep going out and playing," Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said.

The fact that they will be in Florida for break is just icing on top of the cake.

The Nittany Lions (5-5) head to the Sunshine State to face No. 54 Florida State Wednesday, then play University of Central Florida on Friday. The Lions added a match against Temple (1-6) this Sunday in Tallahassee, to get an early taste of outdoor competition.

The warm weather could have an impact on the matches, since it will be the first time Penn State has played outdoors this season.

"Physical conditioning and patience become a lot more important when you play outdoors," Baker said. "We really are looking forward to getting outside and playing on six courts though."

The Seminoles are 7-3 right now, having lost in matches against ranked opponents Florida, Alabama, and LSU.

"I feel like we're going to match up well with them, the way we've been competing lately," Baker said.

UCF has racked up a 5-3 record, coming off a win against Xavier. Most of their wins have come from in-state schools, but they lost to Florida State.

Both teams have busy schedules next week, hosting a lot of teams looking to go south for spring break. Florida State will first encounter Tulane and Michigan State, while UCF will face Yale before going up against the Lions.

After beating Virginia Tech and Old Dominion last weekend, Penn State made it into this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings for the first time this season, ranked No. 75.

"I don't put a lot of weight on those things, but it's a nice reward for the team," Baker said.

A good spring break could give the Lions a winning record for the first time this season.

After their week in Florida, Penn State will turn their attention to finishing out their Big Ten schedule.

By Steve Clancy