V-ball rises twice, falls

Niagara Falls. Nothing else possesses more power. The water crashing onto the rocks below is awesome -- and so is the Penn volleyball team?sometimes. With the season nearing its culmination, the Penn volleyball team toured upstate New York in one of its final tune-ups before it faces its two other Empire State foes, Ivy rivals Cornell and Columbia. Against Niagara, Canisius and York University, the Quakers (10-8) showed how powerful they can be. Unfortunately, they also showed how they can plummet, just like the Falls. The Quakers' weekend opened with a bang Friday. Facing Niagara at Canisius, Penn rolled to a 3-1 victory, winning 15-5, 15-1, 7-15, 15-13. Penn knew it would be up against a tough test going in. Niagara's Jessica Anderson represented a formidable force. Entering Friday's game, she was on a hitting spree, tops on Niagara with 268 kills. Complemented nicely by setter Karen Catalano, Anderson was looking to continue her dominance. However, the Quakers turned in one of their finest defensive efforts of the season, thwarting Anderson as well as Niagara. Penn dominated the first two sets, despite playing sub-par volleyball, according to Niagara coach Barb Green. With both teams making unforced errors, the Quakers were the ones who were able to capitalize. Taking advantage of its frenzied defense, Penn forced Anderson out of her game. She ended up with a mere eight kills for the match. What was even more important was Anderson only had 12 attempts in the entire game. This was attributed to Penn's offense hitting spots and making Niagara scramble on defense. The Purple Eagles could not get a chance to set the ball and get it to their star. "Penn was a good defensive team," Green said. "However, both teams were hot and cold, but we were colder. Neither of the teams played up to their potential. It was a roller coaster game, with both teams going up and down, but [Penn] was up long enough." After the Quakers trounced Niagara in the second set 15-1, Green was forced to make a drastic change. Because the defensive specialists were unable to get the ball to Catalano due to Penn's strong attack, Catalano was moved out of her setter position to receive serve. Unfortunately for the Quakers, the adjustment worked. Not only did Catalano get the ball to her replacement at setter, and manage six kills, her presence sparked Niagara to a 15-7 win in the third set. The question then became, could the Purple Eagles keep it up? The answer was no. To Green's displeasure, Penn regrouped and was able to hang on in a close fourth set and defeat Niagara, 15-13, to win the game. "We should have won the fourth set," Green said. "I was very disappointed in my team." After defeating Niagara, the Quakers followed up with a win against a hot Canisius squad. Penn dropped the Golden Griffins' record to 10-9, by shutting them out 15-7, 15-11 15-5. Then the tides changed quickly, as the Quakers were shut out by York. The loss was reflective of Penn's season thus far -- the Quakers have not shown any signs of being able to put together a winning streak. When Green said the game was like a roller coaster, she very well could have been describing Penn's season.