Undefeated streak on the line

Coming off an emotional victory over rival Purdue, the No. 19 women's swimming and diving team look to remain unbeaten when they square off against No. 18 Penn State and Michigan State tonight.\nThe Hoosiers (4-0-1, 3-0-1 Big Ten), Nittany Lions (4-3, 1-1) and Spartans (5-3, 1-2) will compete in a double dual meet starting this evening at 6 p.m. at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center. Competition will resume 10 a.m. and again at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.\n\"We are at a level now that we need to make sure we are at our best at least mentally every weekend," coach Dorsey Tierney said. "That is what separates the great teams from the average teams; the ability to re-focus and get yourself ready for whoever the competition is."\nIU shouldn't have a hard time refocusing for the Nittany Lions, who handed IU its only dual meet defeat last season. Last year, IU and Michigan State traveled to Penn State for the double dual meet. Penn State defeated IU 201-163, while the Hoosiers beat the Spartans 251-118.\nFeeding off each others' performances will be key to the Hoosiers finding victory, junior Tina Gretlund said.\n"When somebody has a good race, we need to feed off of that person. And if we can get that going, the whole team will do really well," Gretlund said.\nThe competition provided by the Nittany Lions and the Spartans should give the Hoosiers a good gauge for their progress as they prepare for the Big Ten Championships coming up in February.\nTierney believes Penn State is the best team in the Big Ten, but she draws comparisons between the Nittany Lions and the Hoosiers.\n"They have a tremendous amount of depth and that is something that is very similar in both of our teams," Tierney said of Penn State. "I always enjoy competing against their squad; they really leave no stone unturned. Their coaching staff is very thorough in their preparation, something I would like to think we do as well."\nWhile the swimmers competed last weekend, the Hoosier divers had the weekend off after taking on Purdue a weekend early.\nNot having competed for nearly two weeks has allowed the Hoosiers to focus meet competitions and to continue working their way towards the Big Ten Championships, sophomore Cassandra Cardinell said.\n"It has been a really good break," Cardinell said. "Getting to see Kara (Hajek-Gustafson) of Purdue made us realize that we have a lot of work to do. That helped us work and focus on what we need to do for Big Ten's. I think we still have a long ways to go (to get ready for Big Ten's), but I think we are where we want to be and in this next month we will improve a lot."\nDiving coach Jeff Huber said he wanted to have worked more with his divers over the squad's extended break. But since they were able to lay their foundation early in the year, Huber is confident the team will be ready.\nHuber said the break couldn't have come at a better time for the Hoosiers who are battling a variety of injuries and illnesses.\n"I thought we would have gotten a little more rested," Huber said. "Unfortunately a lot of people came down with the flu and we have two wrist injuries. It was probably a good time to get it, because I would rather have them tired and sick now than later"