Volleyball set to begin Ivy play

Lions, and Tigers and Bears -- and Elis? These are just a few of the Ancient Eight foes the Penn volleyball team will be encountering in the upcoming weeks. Today the Quakers (4-5, 0-0 Ivy League) begin the transition from the non-conference, big-school tournaments to the esteemed Ivy League weekends. Tonight they are in New Haven, Conn., to take on Yale. Penn then travels to Providence, R.I., where it faces Brown tomorrow. Heading into the season, it was imperative for Penn to play in many out-of-conference tournaments to find a lineup that would click. In three short weeks of facing explosive teams such as Delaware, Temple and Georgetown, Feeney quickly learned her freshmen would be ready for conference play. Freshmen hitters Abigail Daniels, Karen Lewis and Sue Sabatino have played as big as they stand. Composing a fearsome front line, the three classmates do an excellent job when they are on the hardwood. Each of the three freshmen's names have been hanging around the top of the team's stat list in kills so far this young season. At the High I.Q. Classic at William and Mary, Daniels tied sophomore Jessica Luftman for the team lead with 11 kills against St. Mary's (Calif.). She followed up that performance the next week with nine kills against the powerhouse Hoyas, and then churned out an eye-popping 11 against Cal. State-Fullerton last weekend. Lewis has been a model of consistency. She has either been second or third on the team in kills in four games, with her top scoring performance coming against St. Mary's, when she notched nine kills. As for Sabatino, she flourished this past weekend at the Georgetown Invitational, where she saw her first ample amount of playing time. She had 12 kills in the tournament, with eight coming against Lehigh, the only game Penn won. But thus far, sophomore outside hitter Jessica Luftman has stolen the show. Standing at a mere 5 feet, 7 inches, Luftman has been playing way over her head, literally. She has been the Quakers' intimidating offensive weapon. Coming off a freshman campaign in which she saw limited playing time in a defensive role, Luftman has looked like a seasoned veteran playing on the front line against much taller hitters. Against Rutgers, Luftman crushed the Scarlet Knights and tied teammate Jen Law for the team high in kills. Luftman only got better. Showing her performance was no fluke, she tallied 15 more kills in the final two games of the Penn Invitational. The best was yet to come. In the final game last weekend against Lehigh, Luftman exploded for a career-high 22 kills, while committing just four errors. She shined on defense as well by getting 21 digs, which also led the team. "She is primarily a passer, but has had an amazing season so far," Feeney was prompted to say after the Lehigh game. "After playing so well on defense, it is nice to see her have good offensive matches." Her level of play will have to be passed on to her other teammates when Penn steps on the court with Yale tonight. The Elis (7-4, 0-0) match up quite similarly to the Quakers as far as size goes, but have more experience in Ivy play -- they return five starters from a year ago. Against their only common opponent thus far, Yale defeated Delaware 3-0, while Penn fell to the Blue Hens in four sets. "We've been playing hard this year," Yale coach Peggy Schoefield said. "But now we're going to come out much more aggressive since we're in Ivy League play." As for Saturday's contest against Brown (1-8, 0-0), Penn should not have any problem defeating the Bears, who have only managed one win so far. In fact, they have been shut out in seven of their nine games. Oh my.