Early stages of a team's season are almost always a cause for seeing the glass as half full, and the Penn State women's tennis team currently has no shortage of optimism.

Following strong performances from veteran upperclassmen Sasha Abraham and Andrea Niculescu at the Northwestern Mock Duals this past weekend, the Nittany Lions are feeling confident going into today's match vs. Army at 4 p.m. at the Penn State Indoor Tennis Facility.

The Lions' sunny outlook is not unfounded considering the team won seven singles matches and four doubles at Northwestern, highlighted by Abraham's 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over New Mexico's Iva Gersic, the 45th ranked player in the nation.

"Sasha played at the highest level of consistency that I've seen from her," Penn State head coach Buffy Baker said. "Her ability to control points and to turn it on is going to give her a very good chance against any opponent."

Abraham, along with Niculescu, won each of her matches vs. New Mexico and Florida State, falling only to Northwestern's Alexis Proussis and Cristelle Grier, both top-25 players.

Baker was particularly impressed with the progress Niculescu is making and said that she is playing at a high level.

"She really stepped up and did a good job of composing herself," Baker said. "I think the season is really wide open for her."

Along with the team's strong performance in singles, Baker feels that it has steadily improved its play in doubles, a weak point last season that cost the Lions several close matches. At Northwestern, the team won one out of three matches vs. Northwestern and New Mexico and swept the doubles against the Seminoles.

"We're working 65 to 70 percent of the time in practice on doubles, and it's finally starting to show," Baker said. "We've been trying lots of combos and the execution is really coming."

The team's success at Northwestern was all the more impressive considering it did it without arguably its top player, sophomore Jenny Shular, who is out of commission with mononucleosis until next month.

Shular began her freshman season last year as the Lions' No. 6 singles player, but she steadily proved herself on the court and had begun playing matches at the No. 2 spot by the end of the season. Her presence on the court this season will be a key factor in determining the Lions' success.

"Jenny's absence definitely affected the team last week," Baker said.

For now, though, the Lions will focus on the positives and look ahead to today's match vs. Army, which the Lions' coach expects to be a hard-fought match that will give her team an early test.

"They're tough kids, smart players," Baker said of Army's team. "We're going to have to go out there and beat players because they'll be ready for us."