Senior Leyla Morzan did not get teary-eyed when she reflected on her impending final opening day as a Penn State tennis player. Instead, a confident smile spread across her face.

"This is the first time we're playing in this tournament so I'm actually pretty excited," Morzan said. "I'm more excited than anything."

On Friday morning the Nittany Lions will smack their first serves of the season in the College of William & Mary Tournament in Williamsburg, Va. Nine other teams join the Lions at the tournament consisting of five individual flights and three doubles flights.

"A lot of good teams are going to be there, so it's going to be putting to the test all the hard work we've been doing in the last month," Morzan said.

Since August the Lions have been putting in demanding hours on the court under the energy-draining, late-summer sun.

The tournament will show the team if its countless hours spent on drills, including sprinting from front court to back to polish its transitional game, have paid off.

"I'm ready to play matches and just not practice all the time," senior Lauren Holzberg said.

Holzberg will be representing Penn State in the 'A' bracket of the tournament. Being in the 'A' bracket could eventually pit the Penn State senior against Aurelija Miseviciute, the No. 1 ITA women's tennis player from Arkansas.

How Holzberg does will not reflect on the team's record come spring's team-match play. However, each player's individual record will carry over from the fall.

"I just want to play the best tennis I can," Holzberg said. "I don't think it's winning. I think it's maturing, so when we get to spring matches, we can compete with top players in the Big Ten."

While Holzberg and Morzan will be competing in their final opening day, it will be the first for assistant coach Evan Clark.

Along with Clark, three Nittany Lion freshmen will make their first trip with the team to the heart of Virginia. Monkia Mical, Maria Prishlyak and Michaela Stracar will each compete for the first time this weekend in a blue-and-white uniform.

Head Coach Dawna Prevette spent extra time this week preparing the first year players for her verbal in-match style of coaching.

"It's new for them to focus on the coach and then get back in the match," Prevette said.

Prevette and Clark are optimistic that preparing the newcomers in such a way, mixed with the upperclassmen's focus, will be the winning formula for the squad's first tournament of the year.

Holzberg especially will need to have her self prepared. The senior must beat an ITA-ranked opponent in each round to win her flight.

"It's going to be a tough tournament, there's some really good teams. It's a great experience for us," Prevette said.