There's no rest for the weary.

After playing three matches in two days, the No. 61 Penn State men's tennis team is working with a short week, taking on Bucknell at 6:30 tonight at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Center.

The Nittany Lions (7-1), who swept the weekend's contests, had Monday off and returned with a short practice yesterday before lacing it up for tonight's match.

"These teams from Pennsylvania, obviously they come in here and they'll come after you," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said.

The match against Bucknell (0-1) marks the Lions' last chance for a tune-up before they start the Big Ten season. The Lions host last year's national champion, Illinois (currently No. 3), on Feb. 26. The recent overload of matches for the Lions is designed to get the team ready for the Big Ten schedule, when they must have the conditioning to play two tough matches in a weekend.

"In the Big Ten, you're going to play a tough match Saturday and then travel to play another tough match Sunday," Bortner said. He added that the Lions must take advantage of not having to travel in the early part of the season. With its first seven matches at home, Penn State will not have that luxury once the Big Ten season starts, and six of 10 are away from Happy Valley.

"I'm just glad in this short period of time, we're getting in a lot of matches," Bortner said. "So your guys get to play -- it's one thing to practice, but when guys get to play, they see things they don't [in practice] and it will make them more focused."

The Lions know that it will be crucial to carry the weekend's momentum all the way to the Illinois match, which will be, by far, the toughest of the season. Most of the players on the team will total eight matches each during a five-day stretch, but then can turn all of their attention toward the Illini.

"We know we just have to grind out this one and then we have a long time off until our next match," sophomore Bradley Hunter said.