Volleyball back on winning track with victory at Lafayette

The Penn volleyball team used a weaker Lafayette opponent to shake off the effects of last weekend's sloppy tournament performance. While Quaker coach Margaret Feeney knows the team can still improve, she felt Saturday's victory over the Leopards was a step in the right direction. "We played a lot better then the previous weekend," Feeney said. "We cut our errors in half." Feeney believes that the Quakers (2-2) have the individual talent to be a quality team, but that the they need to become more cohesive and eliminate the unforced errors. During Saturday's road victory over the Leopards (1-3), Penn showed character and determination as many players played key roles for the Quakers. Junior Beatriz Rodriguez got things going in game one as she served for four aces and Penn won 15-8. The Quakers' only scare of the day came in game two, when Lafayette put Penn on the ropes by jumping to a quick 8-0 lead. It was not enough as junior Hallie Ben-Horin brought Penn all the way back when she served for eight straight points. The Quakers eventually took the game 16-14, and then coasted to victory with a 15-7 game-three victory. "That game-two win was a big accomplishment," Feeney said. "We just kept working and and showed that we won't give up." Senior captain Devon Austin led the team with 12 kills, but she credited her teammates for her success at the net. "Everyone played well," Austin said. "We played more as a team. We communicated well, were more aggressive, and we came back from behind. At first we played down to their level, but then we pulled it together. Compared to last week we had better passing, which led to better sets. Our middle blockers also did a good job of keeping their blockers in the middle, which gave the outside hitters more opportunities." Austin was also impressed with freshman outside hitter Alexis Usnick, who made her first start of the year. Usnick performed well with seven kills and 11 digs. "[Usnick] played an all-around good game," Feeney said. "She had solid defense, solid passing and aggressive play at the net." Although Feeney felt many players did well, she thought that sophomore setter Heather Glick paced Penn's attack. Glick led the team with game highs of 12 digs and 24 assists. Despite the strong performance by the Quakers, senior Jennifer Ott feels that the team will still improve. "We had a few people do really well," Ott said. "But I don't think we pulled it together all the way. We're starting to get there, but we still need to get used to each other." Ott credited Feeney with keeping the team positive and "lightening the mood" during the week even though the team was coming off two losses. She said the team did more talking and encouraging during Saturday's match. Feeney hopes that as the team continues to gel and build confidence, the errors will be at a minimum when the Ivy season begins.