Tigers corral V-ball title; Penn finishes third

"We like giving everyone heart attacks," Penn senior Heather Glick joked after the Quakers' victory in the second round of this weekend's Ivy League tournament. Unfortunately for Penn, all it felt was heartache once the tournament concluded. Behind the leadership of senior co-captains Carol Cit Kovic and Heather Glick, the fourth-seeded Quakers finished third in this weekend's Ivy League tournament at the Palestra. After opening up with victories against Harvard and top-seeded Cornell, Penn fell to Princeton and then the Crimson, bowing out of the double-elimination tournament. In the tournament's opening round Friday, the Quakers quickly found themselves on top of the fifth-seeded Crimson, jumping out to a 2-1 lead highlighted by a 15-2 blowout in the third set. But then Harvard made things interesting. Demonstrating a never-say-die attitude, which would be the theme of its entire weekend, the Crimson battled back to win the fourth set 16-14. But in the fifth set, when rally scoring came into effect, Penn was able to hold off Harvard, 15-13, when Quakers junior Karen Kinsherf spiked the final point off Harvard setter Katherine Nash. Instrumental in the Penn win was freshman Lindsey Anderson, whose precision serving kept Harvard off balance, not allowing the Crimson to set up their offense. In the next game against Cornell, Anderson would strain ligaments in her left knee, forcing her to sit out the final match against the Crimson the next day. In the second round of the winners' bracket, Penn played its game of the year. The top-seeded Big Red were coming off of a shutout victory against Columbia in the first round. At the beginning of the Penn game, it looked as if Cornell would not be intimidated by the host team and its fans. The Big Red defeated the Quakers in the first two sets15-6 and 17-15. When Cornell hitter Janelle Kenny slammed the ball off Glick, one of her best friends, to conclude the second set, Penn went to the sidelines looking for a rallying point. Penn coach Margaret Feeney told her team, "This is just like Army," in reference to the previous weekend, when the Quakers defeated the Cadets after trailing 0-2. Penn came out inspired by her words. Cit Kovic had been moved to a defensive-specialist role earlier in the season, but her new position did not affect her play. Cit Kovic was all over the floor Friday night, digging everything which came her way. As for Glick, she too remained a model of excellence. Early in the second set, Glick set Karen Lewis a perfect ball, which Lewis promptly killed. This normally ordinary occurrence was actually extraordinary because it was career assist no. 3,495 -- a new Penn record. In the third set, Penn ran off the final seven points to win 15-8. The next set was more of the same, with the Quakers winning five the last seven points to win 15-9. It seemed as if each team was all over the court, allowing almost nothing to touch the floor. Then the fifth set arrived. Cornell quickly silenced the home crowd, surging to a 9-2 lead. Then the seniors took over. Kenny hit a ball deep into the Penn side of the court, which deflected backwards off a diving Karen Kinsherf. With her back to the court, Cit Kovic sprinted back to the edge of the stands, and managed to pop the ball up. Then Glick sprinted towards the sidelines, dove away from the net, and hit the ball over. It was efforts like these that inspired Penn to come back. After the Quakers closed the margin to 13-12, Glick and Cit Kovic stepped up again. On a long rally, the two each dug Cornell star Carol DeZwarte, eventually resulting in a Penn point. And when Penn's Karen Lewis got a kill at 14-13, the Quakers had pulled off a remarkable comeback. However, the two five-set games took its toll on Penn. According to Feeney, the Quakers were mentally and physically drained going into the championship game of the winner's bracket against Princeton. The powerful Tigers took leads in all three sets and managed to thwart numerous Red and Blue rallies en route to a shutout win. Penn's next task was to again take on Harvard, which was coming in fresh off a shutout of Cornell in the loser's bracket. But when Penn took on the red-hot Crimson, without the services of Anderson, the game was almost done before it began. Harvard came out fired up and shut out the Quakers. This ended Penn's tournament run, as well as its season. Just as importantly, it ended the careers of Glick and Cit Kovic. "It's disappointing for me to have Heather and Carol go through this program without getting a title," Feeney said. "The two brought up the level of play so much, it hurts me to not get them a championship."