“We’ve known for about 10 years that we can play with the best in the country, it’s just a matter of doing it,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “We beat the No. 1 team in the country last year in match play, so we’ve put ourselves in position as one of the best. But I think this year we have an extremely good chance of reaching our goal, which is finishing in the top 10, which has never been done at the university.”

The top teams at North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course this weekend are No. 4 Auburn and No. 6 Denver, the lone two teams in the tournament ranked ahead of MSU, and No. 12 Alabama and No. 13 Duke. With 15 teams ranked in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings’ Top 36, senior Laura Kueny said although the tournament will be difficult, the Spartans are traveling to North Carolina confident in their abilities.

“It’s definitely going to be challenging,” Kueny said. “I think we’ll really see how we rank with these teams and I think we’ll do really well. I think we’re better than most of the teams that are going to be there.”

Last season, the Spartans finished 10th in the invitational, which Slobodnik-Stoll called “one of the most disappointing tournaments” of 2008-09.

Because of the Spartans’ desire to bounce back from last year’s showing in North Carolina, their success in their latest tournament and their preparation during the past week and a half, junior Lindsey Solberg said she fully expects the Spartans to make a statement of where they stand among the nation’s elite.

“I think we are going to compete with them and I think we are going to fare very well,” Solberg said. “I think we expect to be on the same level as them, and that is our goal. A lot of talk has been about how there’s no reason we can’t finish No. 1 in the country, and I firmly believe that and I think my teammates do as well.”