Vball predicts win

The cold war is over. Peace may come to the Middle East. Rosanne and Tom still could reconcile. But don't look for any bonding between the Penn and Yale volleyball teams. "We don't like them as a team," senior Keri Gibson said. "We don't get along with them and we'll love to beat them." Said junior co-captain Heather Glick about last year's match: "They were wiping the floor after every ball. It was really irritating. I thought they were doing it to annoy us. They told us afterwards they did it because a person had slipped." The Quakers (5-3) open their Ivy League season tonight against the Elis at 7 at the Palestra. In a less-heated matchup, Penn hosts Brown tomorrow at 1 p.m. To say Yale (4-6) has had its way with the Quakers would be understating the point. The Elis have dominated. Gibson and the rest of the senior class have lost to Yale every time the two squads have met in the last three years. The Elis were the only team to beat Penn during last year's 6-1 campaign. Yale also ended the Quakers' season in the Ivy tournament. "We always lost to them in the season and they think they're so good," junior Carol Cit Kovic said. "But they really stink." It is somewhat of a mystery why Penn consistently loses to the Elis. The Quakers defeated Ivy champion Cornell last year, a team that defeated Yale three times in '93. Penn will have no excuse if it cannot break the streak tonight. Yale is staggering this year with an inexperienced group, losing its last five. The Quakers are also struggling, but to a lesser extent. They lost their last two matches in straight games to Villanova and Temple. Penn believes Yale and Brown do not have the same firepower. "They're totally different kinds of teams," senior co-captain Hallie Ben-Horin said. "They're not going to be as big. They're not going to be as good." Yale lost both Ivy League co-Player of the Year Pauline Mu and first team all-Ivy Katie Roy to graduation. With the exception of senior captain Kathleen Kelly, Yale is missing veteran leadership. One player Penn will have to account for, however, is Leigh Brezler, 1993 Rookie of the Year. "I think these kids are going to rise to the occasion, since none of these kids have beaten Yale," Penn coach Margaret Feeney said. "I think its real important that we play our match." Freshman Susan Pojedinec has heard plenty about the Elis from her older teammates. She wants to end this streak, now. "I'm really psyched about getting in there and winning," Pojedinec said. "Their serve receiving isn't quite up to par. We're going to serve them real tough and hope they can't run their offense, and even if they do, our blocks will be there to stop them." Pojedinec added that the team will concentrate on Brown "after we beat Yale."