Sabatino records 26 kills in Volleyball's victory

In four games against Columbia, middle blockerIn four games against Columbia, middle blockerSue Sabatio had a Player-of-the-Week outing. Penn sophomore middle blocker Sue Sabatino has all but locked up Ivy League Player of the Week with her stellar performance Saturday afternoon at the Palestra. Throughout the homecoming weekend match against Columbia, Sabatino made the Palestra's public address announcer sound like a broken record. "Slam by Sabatino, point Pennsylvania," was the common call of the night. The message repeated consistently -- 26 times to be exact in the Quakers' 9-15, 15-5, 15-4, 15-7 romping of the Lions. "Last time that I can remember that many kills by one player in one match -- most immediately I'd have to think back to [1992 Penn graduates] Kate Cooley or Devon Austin," Quakers coach Margaret Feeney said. Sabatino not only cracked the 25-kill barrier -- in just four games -- but she also brought new life to Penn, which lost the match's opening game to the winless Lions. In the opening game, Columbia middle blockers Laura Alexander and Dorothy Katz stalked Penn's side hitters. The Lions held right-side hitter Abby Daniels -- who led Penn with 21 kills in the Quakers' 6-15, 6-15, 15-10, 15-12, 16-14 victory over Cornell on Friday night -- to less kills (two) than errors (three). And by the opening game's conclusion, it became obvious to Penn setter Heather Tillett that passing consistently to Sabatino would be Penn's best shot to hit past the Lions' strategically arranged middle blockers. "After each game, I look at the game for the hitters," Tillett said. "The middle is always the attack you want to use because it's the quickest attack. If the middle hits past the block, it's an easy point." In game two, Tillett began to mold the offense around Sabatino in the middle. With only a single blocker following her, Sabatino put away point-after-point, and Columbia slowly transformed itself back into the level of play that is indicative of an 0-7 team. By game three, Sabatino was on pace for over 30 kills. A perplexed Lions block began to overcompensate, and Tillett decided to change gears and start setting to the outside hitters, junior Jessica Luftman and freshman K.C. Potter, whose kill attempts had clear paths to the floor. And when all three offensive threats were accounted for, Tillett would look to Karen Lewis -- Penn's 6-foot-2 tower of a middle blocker -- to find wood. "I tried to mix it up because we want to keep the blockers guessing," Tillett said. "If you keep it going, then you can go back to running the middle." A strong scouting report kept the Lions competitive in the early going, despite a significant disadvantage in talent. Columbia's offense knew to serve the ball away from Penn's primary serve receiver, Jessica Luftman. The Lions tried to force Potter to make unforced errors. And Columbia made Tillett look to her middle blockers for kills. When Sabatino began to step up, however, it seemed that the entire Columbia game plan self-destructed. Early in game two, the Lions' Angela Howard served into the net because she placed too much emphasis on angling her serve away from Luftman. Columbia's Summer Ornelas fell into the same trap in game three. "I think that a prime part of their scouting was don't serve to Jess Luftman, and it caused them to make unforced errors," Feeney said. Digs were well-distributed among the Quakers starters, since Lions serves were all to the side opposite Luftman. Potter led the way with 13 digs. Luftman still managed 12, and sophomore Megan McKay and Tillett chipped in with 11 digs a piece. Sabatino added eight blocks, three more than the entire Columbia team. "After last night, I thought I played a little flat," Sabatino said. "So, I thought that I'd come out today and just play my game. I guess me and 'T' [Heather Tillett] connected today." With the weekend sweep of Cornell and Columbia, Penn now stands at 4-3 in the Ivy League and 13-8 overall. "The Ivy League is so chaotic this year, we really don't know where we are going to stand," Penn co-captain Karen Kinsherf said. "It's going to be competitive. We just have to see how everyone comes out to play." This weekend, there was no doubt that Sabatino and the Quakers came to play.