VBALL RES V. HARVARD AND DARTMOUTH: Vball splits 1st Ivy weekend

It took the season's first Ivy League road trip to bring an end to what had been a fairy tale beginning for the Penn volleyball team. After starting the weekend with an impressive 3-0 victory over Brown (2-2) in Providence on Friday evening, the Quakers (8-3) lost a closely fought contest to Yale (9-2) on Saturday. The setback, Penn's first in three weeks, ended a seven-game win streak in which the Quakers were able to utilize their depth and talent to overwhelm opponents. During that seven-match stretch, Penn won 21 of its 22 games. Penn continued to take advantage of its strong bench play during the 15-7, 15-7, 15-10 bashing of the Bears on Friday. Brown was expected to be a light test for the Quakers since the Bears were elevated from club to varsity status this season. Solid recruiting and commitment from some Brown team members are still unrealized goals. One of the Bears' strongest performers, Kathy Hannon, recently dropped the sport in favor of crew. As a result of the mismatch, Penn coach Margaret Feeney saw the contest as an opportunity to play everyone in her lineup and give some of the younger and more inexperienced players some much needed court time. "It's sad what has happened to [Brown's] program," Feeney said. "But for us, it was a chance to get everyone involved." Although Penn was happy to leave the Paul B. Pizzitola Sports Center with its seventh consecutive victory, the team knew the battle in New Haven would be much tougher. The Elis handed the Quakers their only loss of the regular season last year and Penn has had a history of poor performances at Yale. The Quakers' downfall on Saturday was not a result of their poor play or failure to execute, however. Penn lost three tight games 15-10, 15-10, 15-13 to a Yale team that played an almost perfect match. "They're a very good team and they played an outstanding match against us," Feeney said. "They were pumped up and they always seemed to be in the right place at the right time." In addition to solid defense, the key for Yale was its tremendous hitting, led by Katie Roy. Although the Quakers were aware of the challenge that the Eli hitters presented, whatever prematch preparations or adjustments that Penn made turned out to be in vain. "Their hitters were outstanding," senior captain Devon Austin said. "They always managed to hit around our blocks, especially on the big points." Despite the disappointing loss, there were silver linings for the Quakers. Both the players and the coaches learned about Yale from the match and will be able to make corrections should the teams meet again in the Ivy League tournament that determines the Ancient Eight champion. "I like our chances if we play them again," Feeney said. "There was no way that we could have maintained the level we had against Temple in every match, and there's no way that [Yale] could maintain the level that they had against us." So for the Quakers, Saturday's loss does not necessarily represent the end of a fairy tale, but simply the first intermission. Act II begins this weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard.

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