Vball finally tops Big Red

Penn coach Margaret Feeney has said she has the most talented team in the Ivy League. Judging by its play this weekend, she just might be right. Penn destroyed a weak Columbia team Friday, 15-5, 15-5, 15-9. But do not accuse the Quakers of picking on the little guys. Saturday, Penn routed Cornell, the defending Ivy League champions, 15-11, 15-4, 15-7. Columbia fell to 5-11, 1-5 in the Ivy League. "I think we met a lot of goals we talked about in our fall-break trip," Feeney said. "We've eliminated our errors and that's why we've been successful this weekend." It was remarkable that Cornell -- a traditional Ivy powerhouse that has given Penn (11-7, 6-1 Ivy League) all sorts of trouble in recent years -- would just lose quietly to the Quakers in straight games. The Big Red (5-15, 3-4) defeated Penn in the Ivy League tournament the two past years. "Harvard had beaten Cornell, so we knew they weren't going to be as good as last year," senior co-captain Hallie Ben-Horin said. "They lost some good players." The Cornell match got ugly fast. The Quakers were quicker to the ball, crisper in their passes, and stronger in the attack. In the final game, the Quaker bench seemed more concerned if freshman Tracey Frasch would show emotion after a kill than in the outcome of the match. The players, on their own initiative, had set up a system in which they would have to run suicides for certain mistakes, like missing a serve after a timeout. The team told the usually emotionless freshman it would knock off a suicide if, as Frasch said, "I got excited and did something stupid after the kill, and I did." When Frasch finally did the deed, which consisted of thrusting her elbows in a backwards motion, the Penn bench became hysterical. That was the only real excitement in this match, as the Big Red certainly did not provide any. "I think they're struggling," Feeney said. "They were throwing different lineups. They were switching the setter." Cornell quickly became frustrated. The Quakers had an answer for any Big Red lineup change. Big Red co-captain Blythe Westbrook yelled "C'mon" to her team in the middle of the third game in a futile attempt to try to wake them up. With the Quakers up 14-7, a Cornell player on the bench implored her team to "give everything you've got." Fittingly, Penn won that point. The Big Red player's diving attempt to reach the ball fell short. Cornell was a step behind the Quakers all day. "It was all heart," Frasch said. "I think we had the potential all along."