Volleyball uses Naval Classic as Ivy tuneup

By being the Quakers' most consistent offensive force this season, sophomore outside hitter Jessica Luftman has been giving opposing coaches headaches. Unfortunately for the Quakers, she is now getting a taste of her own medicine. When Penn (13-10) arrives in Annapolis, Md., today to take on Navy at 4 p.m and UNC-Wilmington at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Navy-Forrestal Invitational, the Quakers will be playing a woman short. Luftman is waiting to heal from the concussion she suffered last Friday at Columbia. Luftman lost her feet, and her head smashed onto the hardwood. Since suffering the concussion, she has been forced to cheer for her teammates from the sidelines during practice. Even though it has been six days since her fall, Luftman is still suffering headaches, according to Penn coach Margaret Feeney. The prognosis is that after this weekend, Luftman should be at 100 percent. However, Feeney is not going to risk further and more serious injury to Luftman by rushing her back into the line-up. "Obviously we are not going to hurry her back onto the court," Feeney said. "By getting her on the floor before she is healthy, we would be risking something much more serious. She'll sit out this weekend, and hopefully will practice next week." Luftman has been a pillar of consistency in what has been an up-and-down season for the Quakers. After playing sparingly last year as a freshman, she emerged as a star in the very first tournament this season. She proved to be nearly unstoppable against Rutgers, Delaware and Temple, racking up a gaudy 27 kills and 24 digs. This success early in the season surprised Feeney. Since then, it has become expected. To replace Luftman, Penn will again call on its freshmen to come to the rescue. As they have proven time and again, any one of the four freshmen who see significant playing time are capable of filling in. So this call to arms will simply be regarded as business as usual. The most difficult problem the Quakers will face this weekend is trying to figure out the motivation behind playing the tournament. Next Friday, Penn's season will be highlighted when it hosts the Ivy League tournament. The Red and Blue will be fighting to win the title of Ivy champs. So why even play this weekend? "To put some things back together," according to Feeney. Penn is still trying to regroup from last Saturday's debacle at Cornell. In the most important game they played all season, the Quakers were annihilated by the Big Red. This is still prevalent in the minds of each Quaker. It is imperative for Penn to turn in a strong performance to recapture the confidence it had built up in the weeks leading up to the Cornell match. "We're just gong to be concentrating on us," Feeney said. "We're hoping to play a little bit better, and just get ready for the [Ivy] tournament." UNC-Wilmington (15-7) is a team much like the Quakers. In playing mostly small Division-I schools, it has shown signs of greatness in what has been an overall inconsistent year. After winning five games in a row in the middle of September, the Lady Seahawks have not been able to string more than two wins or losses together since. The Midshipmen have been busy this season, which Penn will be able to use to its advantage. If the game goes into five sets, the deep bench of the Quakers should be able to outlast the Midshipmen. Navy has already played 34 games, 14 of which it has won. The winner of the Penn-Navy-UNC-Wilmington bracket will get a bye and await the winner of the upper bracket, which will be either Delaware, Army or East Carolina. The championship game will be Saturday at 3 p.m. Hopefully the Quakers have learned their lesson, and will send volleyballs crashing to the floor this weekend -- not heads.