A late-season lull many players across the country would aspire to call their own is gone, and Megan Hodge is recharged.

Earlier this week, the outside hitter became the first freshman to be named Big Ten Player of the Year in the 23-year history of Big Ten women's volleyball.

And this weekend, the standout freshman and conference-champion Nittany Lions (29-2) begin playing for what really counts.

"It's tournament time," Hodge said. "The Big Ten season is really long; 20 matches, every weekend. It gets kind of dragged out, but now it's the big thing."

Penn State, ranked No. 3 overall in the 64-team bracket and top seed in the Seattle regional, plays Long Island (25-10) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 7:30 tonight in Rec Hall.

Should they win, the Lions will play Cornell (18-8) or Hofstra (23-6) in the second round at 7 p.m. tomorrow, also at Rec Hall.

It's the first of three consecutive weekends Penn State hopes to be playing in, culminating Dec. 14-16 at the Final Four in Omaha, Neb.

"To win a national championship would be insane," Hodge said. "A lot of people underestimate our team. Because we're young, they think we can't do it. I'm really excited to try to prove people wrong."

Of the seven Penn State starters, two are freshmen and three are sophomores. The sophomores -- middle hitter Christa Harmotto, outside hitter Nicole Fawcett and libero Roberta Holehouse -- did not experience a Big Ten defeat until this season, when Penn State lost to Wisconsin and Ohio State on the road.

The freshmen -- Hodge and setter Alisha Glass -- according to coach Russ Rose, didn't play to their ability in those losses. And their play dictated how well the team played down the final stretch of the regular season, ending with five consecutive sweeps, but still not in ideal fashion.

The arrival of the tournament has brought a renewed sense of energy to Penn State, which, along with winning the Big Ten, had reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1999 on its radar before the season began.

"This group is capable of doing things bigger than the Big Ten," senior Cassy Salyer said last Saturday after the Lions clinched the conference. "That needs to be the main focus. Whether or not we've played our best throughout the regular season is anybody's opinion."

Tonight's opponent, Long Island, is the same team Penn State played in the first round last year at Rec Hall. But a phenomenon called déjà vu, it is not. The Blackbirds have only two players returning from last season's team that lost to Penn State. They've also faced a tougher schedule, having played UCLA, Texas, Pepperdine and Cal-Poly, all top 25 teams, this year.

So after suffering defeat during the Big Ten season, which the Lions set as a realistic goal not to do, they're taking no one lightly and accepting the mantra -- "It's not who you play, but how you play," -- that Rose has spoke all season. No one wants a repeat, they said, of last year when Tennessee defeated the Lions at home in the regional semifinals.

As for Hodge, she was surprised to be named player of the year Tuesday, and while graciously accepting the award, she wasn't one to flaunt it.

"A lot of other people have high expectations for me. ... I don't really like awards and all that recognition stuff because I'm already kind of a little head case sometimes. And having that extra pressure and knowing everyone's expecting to see these great things kind of freaks me out," Hodge said.

She puts enough pressure on herself.

"Hopefully, I'll play well during the tournament so people actually think I deserve it."

Notes & quotes: If the Lions get through the first two rounds this weekend, they will travel to Seattle for the regional semifinals and finals next weekend. If the rankings hold, Penn State will play No. 6 Washington in the regional final.

"It's like the last time we had to go there [2004], only this time at least we don't have to fly over all three regionals to get to the one that was farthest away. Because there's one farther away -- in Hawaii -- so we only have to go farther than two of them [Florida and Texas]," Rose said.