EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – The Michigan State women’s golf team leaves on Wednesday for the Big Ten Championships at Fox Chapel Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA.

It’s the site of last year’s conference championship when the Spartans finished four strokes shy of winning back-to-back Big Ten titles. The second-place finish didn’t sit well with MSU and is why there’s an extra level of motivation before the trip to Pittsburgh.

“You never want to come in second in Big Tens,” MSU junior golfer Leila Raines said. “We definitely have a little extra drive and (will) try to minimize the mistakes coming down the stretch.”

MSU sophomore golfer Brooke Biermann said, “There’s some girls who played it (Fox Chapel Country Club) and some girls who have not. So, we’re trying to explain the different kind of shots we need to be preparing for.”

When MSU tees off on Friday, starting junior Valentina Rossi won’t be with the team because she’ll in Dallas, TX, playing in the LPGA’s Chevron Championship.

“She received that by winning the (Women’s Amateur) Latin America Championship last November. She received three exemptions to three LPGA majors,” Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll said. “It is a unique week, but there is no I in this week.”

Slobodnik-Stoll is confident in her team even without Rossi and is hoping to come home with her ninth Big Ten title as Michigan State’s head coach.