The Penn State women's tennis team has been waiting a year for this chance.

An opportunity for redemption is on the table for the Nittany Lions this weekend as they attempt to erase last year's disastrous Big Ten season from their collective memory. After opening this year's conference slate two weeks ago with a 4-3 loss to Indiana, the Lions (5-5, 0-1 Big Ten) resume Big Ten play tomorrow at No. 51 Illinois and Sunday against No. 61 Purdue.

Penn State's two matches against the Illini and the Boilermakers last season were more examples of the difficult 4-3 losses the team endured last year.

And though Penn State finished last year without a conference win, four of its losses were by a single point. Being able to pick up that the decisive point has been a main focus for the team all year and something it has continued to struggle with this season. Already this season, five of the Lions' nine matches came down to the final singles match.

"I want our 4-3 losses to turn around into our wins," senior Maaria Husain said. "It was the story last year, it was the story the year before, always that one point where we had so many close ones."

Building up confidence is one of the keys for the team to be able turn around those close matches. The Lions got that confidence-builder when they shut out Lehigh last week at home. With that confidence in place, Penn State's next step will be forgetting about last season and moving forward.

"I think there's a real drive to want to turn things around from last season, but to me that's in the past," Penn State coach Buffy Baker said.

Playing singles outside last week was also important for the Lions because both of their road matches this weekend will most likely be played outside. Adjusting to the new setting was something the team worked on this week in practice at its outdoor courts.

Coming into the match, it will be essential for the Lions to be familiar with the conditions to compete in the intense Big Ten matches that they have come to expect.

"Both those teams will be loud, they'll be feisty," Baker said. "It's on their home court so it's going to be a battle like ever match we've had with them in the past."