SEASON PREVIEW: Volleyball

Vball opens season with home invite Co-captain Heather Glick remembers playing with a young phenom, Aileen Koprowski, on a club team during her high school years. "She's an excellent player -- really strong," said Glick, a junior setter who has starred for the Quakers since her freshman year when she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Now Koprowski will be on the other side of the net. She leads undefeated Providence (5-0) as its senior captain against the Quakers as part of the Penn Invitational at the Palestra, which starts tonight at 5. The Quakers play tonight at 7 and tomorrow afternoon at 1 and 6. For Penn, a perennial Ivy powerhouse, the invitational will be its season debut. The Quakers went 16-10 overall, and 6-1 in Ivy play during last year's regular season, but somewhat disappointed in the Ivy League tournament splitting four matches to finish third. "Our ultimate goal is to win the Ivy League championship and qualify for the NCAA tournament," coach Margaret Feeney said. In the Feeney era, Penn has compiled an impressive 31-13 record against Ivy foes. Along with Glick, the Quakers will be led by their other co-captain, the consistent senior Hallie Ben-Horin. Playing in all 26 games last season, she led the team in service aces and digs. Ben-Horin feels the team's chemistry and defense are its strengths. "We all get along really well and that's a plus," Ben-Horin said. "And we have have three [defensive specialists] that are seniors. That's a really big plus." Ben-Horin is referring to her three fellow seniors, Keri Gibson, Jennifer Richmond and Beatriz Rodriguez, who will all provide veteran leadership. Penn's offense is more questionable. Feeney admitted the Quakers cannot rely on the successful method of the past -- having one big hitter spiking the ball. Penn lost its big hitter when 1993 captain Devon Austin graduated. "For the first time in the four years I've been here , we don't have a big dominant hitter," Feeney said. "We're a different type of team. They won't be able to prepare for Penn in the same way." Feeney envisions a "multi-dimensional" team to replace the past one that relied on big-time hitting from one dominant spiker. This won't happen overnight. "To be honest, that's going to take a while," Feeney said. "I think we're going to be a very good team in a couple of weeks."