SEASON PREVIEW: Volleyball falls short of Ivy title

BY C. A. McKAYBY C. A. McKAYDaily Pennsylvanian Sports Writer Although the season had many accomplishments, the team ended the year with a disappointing third-place finish in the Ivy League Tournament. "I think it was a great season with a disappointing ending," sophomore setter Heather Glick said. "It's hard to remember how good because of the ending." Penn finished the regular season tied for first with Yale. Each held impressive 6-1 Ivy League records, but the Quakers entered the tournament seeded second because Yale had won the head-to-head matchup. Penn began the tournament with wins over Brown and Princeton, but after the strong start the Quakers' quest for a championship ended abruptly. Cornell and Yale each posted 3-0 victories against Penn, and an otherwise successful season came to a sudden conclusion. Although the title eluded the Quakers, the team admits the season had many highlights, including a 16-10 overall record, and an 8-3 record versus Ivy opponents. "We did a lot of things this year that we didn't do last year," Glick said. "We set goals in practice and we accomplished them. We were able to come back in tough games instead of reaching 9 or 10 points and not being to pull them out. We had more fighting spirit. As a group, we were more aggressive." Senior outside hitter Jennifer Ott agreed that the attitude on the 1993 Quakers was better than in past years. She credited some of this emotion and perseverance to a new attitude from coach Margaret Feeney. "Margaret was more positive this year than in the past," Ott said. "When we got down her attitude helped us to maintain a positive attitude." With Ott and captain Devon Austin being the only seniors on the team, the young Penn squad needed encouragement in order to build confidence. The season began slowly for the Quakers, as they dropped two of their first three matches. After the auspicious beginning Penn then won 10 of its next 11 matches. The string included three wins in the Quaker Classic, giving Penn the championship of its own tournament. The stretch also saw wins over Big 5 rivals Temple and La Salle. The win over Temple was the first win against the Owls for both seniors and coach Feeney. After the mid-season reign, the Quakers lost their next five games. The slump began with four losses in California before Penn returned to Philadelphia and missed a chance for the Big 5 title by losing to Villanova. After the west coast trip the team never seemed to regain its mid-season form. Despite the slump, the Quakers remained in contention for the Ivy title by sweeping their last Ivy road trip. This would prove to be the last highlight for the streaky Penn team. Unfortunately for the Quakers, an untimely injury also contributed to the disappointing finish for Penn. During the last weekend of regular-season Ivy League play, junior outside hitter Karen Jones suffered a season-ending knee injury. Jones had been a consistent starter all year. Although the Quakers boasted a deep and talented bench, the injury seemed to throw the team somewhat out of sync. "We peaked several times during the regular season, but we didn't peak at Ivies," Glick said. "In Ivies we really needed Karen Jones." However, with only two seniors graduating from the team, Jones and the rest of the Quakers should have the weapons to make another run at the title next year. "This year wasn't as successful as I thought it could have been, but overall it was really good." Austin said. "We should hold our heads up. Everyone pulled together and we had one of the most successful seasons in Penn volleyball history." Perhaps next year the Quakers will be able to climb that final mountain, and end their four-year title draught.