Temple overpowers Vball

The level of noise that arose from the Temple faithful in McGonigle Hall at the Penn volleyball match Saturday was telling of how the game went. Unfortunately for the Quakers, the only time the fans weren't hollering was during the intermission between games. Due to a barrage of spikes from the Owls' outside hitters, and numerous strategically placed serves, the Quakers suffered their second consecutive loss. Penn was blanked by Temple, 15-8, 15-3, 15-6, as it fell to 5-3 on the season. The onslaught began early in the first game when Owls sophomore setter Heidi Lombardo hooked up with outside hitter Zenzile Johnson, who wound up her right arm and hit a bomb onto Penn's half of the court. This kill put Temple (10-4) ahead 1-0 in the first game, and the Owls would never relinquish their lead. Throughout the first game, the Quakers were unable to handle the physical advantage the Owls possessed. It appeared as if Temple were fielding 10 players at one time as the Owls consistently dug Penn spikes. Also, Johnson, Katie Harrigan and Tamu Cooper hovered around the net, blocking and spiking one ball after another. "Of all of the teams we've played this year, they were the biggest and fastest," Penn coach Margaret Feeney said. "Unlike Providence and Villanova, they were totally able to dictate all match long." Throughout the contest, Temple stifled Penn's attempts to put together strings of points. Whenever the Quakers seemed to mount some semblance of a rally, all comeback attempts were quickly suppressed. When Penn junior Carol Cit Kovic hit a short serve which was poorly handled by Temple's Heather Paslay, Penn sophomore Jennifer Law was able to pounce on the bad pass and stuff the ball with two hands. That brought the Quakers within one point in the first game, but that was the closest they would come to their foe. With hitting errors from Penn's Nida Germanas and Jessica Luftman, the Quakers were unable to challenge for the lead. The Owls were able to open up large gaps in the score whenever they felt Penn gaining momentum. "They just controlled the game," junior co-captain Heather Glick said. "In volleyball, every point is a new play. So even though we made some comebacks, the other team still had the momentum." Temple controlled both sides of the net because of its lightning-quick offense. The Owls dictated the match by feeding Lombardo quick, low passes, which enabled her to set the ball before the Quakers could find the correct people to block. And once the set was in the air, it came down a lot quicker. Temple repeatedly hit thunderous spikes which forced Penn to scramble, making it impossible for the Quakers to set up their offense. In the second and third games, the Owls had countless opportunities to swing, while the Quakers were lucky to even get off a dink. And on the rare occasion when Penn could get a hit off, it had to worry about avoiding the tough blocking scheme of the motivated Temple front line. "[We] were out for revenge," Temple coach Jenny Alexander said. "Needless to say, they remember [last year's shutout by Penn] quite well. There was a lot of talk about it before the game." With the Ivy season opening at the Palestra Friday, Penn hopes the crowd will be as noisy as it was this weekend as the Quakers look to start a new streak, a winning streak.