Assistant coach Katie Dougherty, who will be traveling to the tournament, believes the focus for the Lions should be to keep composure and take each match individually.
"BeVard and Holzberg have to win two matches to qualify," Dougherty said. "They're just going to think one match at a time and once they get into the main draw we'll take it from there, same thing with Sasha, just one name at a time."
Top finishers from this tournament and the eight other ITA regional tournaments will gain entry to the ITA national Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to be held at Ohio State on November second. While it may be too much to ask for any of the Penn State players to advance that far in this tournament, this will give them a chance to face off against the best players from around the eastern region.
In addition to singles play, Abraham and Holzberg will represent Penn State's only entry into doubles competition. They will face the number one teams from all schools competing from the eastern region in the main draw, single elimination doubles tournament.
With only the top players from 54 schools from around the eastern region of the ITA, this will be an extremely difficult test for Penn State. With a win-or-go-home mentality for the three of the Lions this weekend, the focus will be on gaining experience against top competition as much as winning.
"They'll have a great opportunity to beat some nationally ranked players this weekend," Dougherty said. "You just can't look forward too much in a single elimination tournament. If you lose, you're done."
