The moment of truth has finally arrived for the No. 16 Penn State women's gymnastics team.

The Big Ten Championships have been the team's most highly anticipated weekend of the season, and, at 6 p.m. tomorrow, that time is finally here as the conference's premier event heads to Lansing, Mich.

Since January, the Nittany Lions have constantly been in and out of the gym, perfecting their routines and mentally preparing themselves to seek revenge against their ultimate rival, Michigan.

The Lions fell short to Michigan last year and had to settle for second place. This year they are confident, and with enough determination and a good performance, their dreams may become reality.

The Lions struggled in the beginning of the year, falling to second place at home two weekends in a row, and not claiming their first win until four weeks into the season.

Since then, the team has steadily climbed uphill and is now up to par with the competition standards of Michigan and the rest of the Big Ten conference.

"We have built up our confidence enough to face any team," senior Michelle Ilg said. "I'm not sure what teams we'll be going against, but we've proven to ourselves that we can beat any team out there."

The team is also coming out with more confidence for this meet after having an amazing victory last weekend. The Lions upset Pittsburgh in front of the largest gymnastics crowd in the history of Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Field House, capturing a 196.400-189.750 win over the Panthers.

"Championship season is on us, and it is very good to have a good meet before the championship. It prepares the girls mentally," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

He thinks his team stands a good chance of winning.

"We saw Michigan earlier in the year, and we only lost by four-tenths, so we feel like we are right there with them. We just need to do the best gymnastics that we are capable of doing," Shephard said.

The team is carrying a very positive attitude despite a few critical injuries that have caused a change in the lineup. Team captain senior Meredith Hoover has aggravated a previous ankle injury and will not participate in the meet. Sophomore Lindsay Borkan is also going to be out due to a stress fracture.

Being long-time athletes, the gymnasts understand that injuries are part of the sport and are ready to step up when a teammate cannot perform.

"I think we have good depth and we have people we can replace Meredith's spot with pretty effectively," Shephard said. "Obviously we are going to miss her, but we do have people in backup positions who are high quality athletes and equally capable of doing their job."

As for Shephard's success strategy, he said the team needs to do the best gymnastics it can.

"We need to hit 24-for-24," he said. "From the bottom of the lineup, all the way up to the top, everyone needs to do the best possible job they can. We need to start strong with a good starting score. Scores tend to escalate through the lineup, so we need the first people up in the lineup to really do their job."

Shephard said of all the Big Ten schools, he is most looking forward to facing Michigan again.

"We competed against them earlier in season, and I felt like we could beat them and now we got the rematch," Shephard said.

Ilg says she and her teammates will go out with confidence and energy so they can "hopefully come out on top."