Volleyball splits Ivy openers with Yale, Brown

After 10 months of waiting, the Penn volleyball team finally got its first chance to step on the court against an Ivy League opponent this past weekend. After a summer full of club-team competition, and a fall schedule that pitted the Quakers against non-conference foes, Penn finally began the part of its season it has been training for since November. Unfortunately for the Quakers (5-6, 1-1 Ivy League), Friday's league opener in New Haven, Conn., against Yale was not worth waiting for. The Elis shut out Penn, 3-0. The Elis (9-4, 1-1) defeated the Quakers behind a scrambling defense that seemed to get to every spike Penn hit. "Our hitting was pretty good in the first game," Penn co-captain Heather Glick said. "However, Yale played amazing defense. They got to almost every ball. We just couldn't get any points." To open the game, Yale leaped out to an 8-0 lead, but the resilient Quakers came back to knot the score at 10. But then Penn's lack of consistency, which would afflict the team all evening, took its toll. Penn played inconsistently throughout the entire match. The Quakers could not block Yale consistently, meaning they were not able to compensate for the Elis' digging. Also, Penn committed countless unforced errors. This was a key factor in the Quakers' loss. Another element that contributed to Penn's downfall was the young Quakers' starting line-up felt the pressure of its first league match. "I think the freshmen were slightly intimidated because it was their first Ivy match," Glick said. "Yale had a lot of fans there, and they then understood what Ivy League play meant." To prepare themselves for Saturday's game against Brown (1-8, 0-2), the team held a meeting to decide how to pull it together. The Quakers knew they would have to pick themselves up -- not only did they have to compensate for their tough loss, but they were facing a struggling Brown team which was hungry for a win. When Penn took the floor against the Bears, it looked like the Quakers would succumb to the same fate as the day before. Brown came out fired up in the first game and smashed Penn 15-2. This manhandling surprised Penn, but did not break the Red and Blue. The Quakers bounced back to crush Brown in the ensuing three games, gaining their first win in the Ivy League. "[A victory] was expected, but we had to work for it," Glick said. "We definitely knew we would come back. We knew we were the better team." Junior inside-hitter Jen Law played another solid game against the Bears. Law, who is third on the team in kills this season, helped control the Brown attack with her consistent defensive play. In fact, she has improved her defense tremendously since last season. Knowing what spot to be at in a certain situation, as well as improving technically, Law has been one of the strengths of the Quakers. Penn will need to repeat performances such as Law's if it hopes to take control of the Ancient Eight. To be consistently consistent -- that's the formula.