Hoosiers prepared for Big Ten play

The Big Ten season starts tonight for the volleyball team, and it said it is psyched and prepared to show what it's made of.\nHaving the last four games postponed has not hurt the team's readiness to play. In fact, coach Katie Weismiller said the team has become better prepared for the two important games this weekend.\n"I think the time off from games has given us a lot of good practices," Weismiller said. "And I think the teams we have played have been great practice for us as well."\nThe Hoosiers left for the weekend Thursday after practice. The first game of the weekend takes place Friday night against Penn State. Penn State was ranked third in the Big Ten last season and will go into play Friday with a record of 6-1.\nAfter flying into Columbus Friday night, the Hoosiers will get some rest before taking on Ohio State Saturday evening. The Buckeyes finished fourth last season in the Big Ten and are carrying an undefeated season of 8-0.\n"Each of these games will be tough for different reasons," Weismiller said, "Penn State is kind of big and they're going to try and overpower you, and Ohio State is really fast."\nSenior Crecia Keithley said she agreed. \n"Penn State will be the harder game, but Ohio State is the more mental game for us."\nBoth games will be tough, said senior Meghan Stout.\n"We have been practicing really hard," Stout said, "Our practices have been very intense and that's going to help us this weekend against the two teams."\nDespite the fact that Buckeyes are undefeated and Penn State has only lost one game, the Hoosiers said they could not be more excited to start the Big Ten season.\n"I think we're more excited than nervous for the weekend," Keithley said. "It's fun to start the Big Ten. We have a really great team so it's going to be great to see where we measure up against these teams."\n"We've had a lot of time off from games, it seems, but it's good that we ended on a win," Stout said. "I know we've improved and this will show what we're made of."\nWeismiller said she is confident in the team's performance and has noted a lot of the players' abilities improving in practice.\n"We've seen a lot of different players step up recently in a lot of different aspects of the game," Weismiller said. "As I look out at the team there's quite a few of the players that have improved and continue to do so."\nWeismiller also said the team is going into this weekend with a few things on their side.\n "We're coming off two wins and this is a great opportunity to start the Big Ten season and to start it fresh," Weismiller said. "We're going in with a clean slate, it's the Big Ten and that's what we look forward to. I can guarantee that this team's psyched and ready to play"