Volleyball can move above .500 with an Ivy weekend sweep

Quakers can earn themselvesQuakers can earn themselvesa high Ivy TournmentQuakers can earn themselvesa high Ivy Tournmentranking this weekend. Ranked No. 18 in the nation in service aces, but holding a losing record in the Ivy League, the Penn volleyball team is relying on a home weekend sweep of Cornell and Columbia to earn a high seeding in the November 15 Ivy League Tournament in Ithaca, N.Y. Although the Quakers (13-8, 2-3 Ivy League have been plagued by season-long inconsistency, a weekend sweep is feasible, since Penn's opponents comprise the Ivy basement, combining for just one conference win between them. Penn has shown improved play as of late, sweeping all nine games in last weekend's Marist Invitational, including a victory over Navy, a team that had beaten the Quakers earlier in the season. "We have improved a lot of aspects of our game," Penn coach Margaret Feeney said. This weekend will be the first time all season that experience at the setter position will weigh in favor of -- rather than against -- the Quakers. A large part of the Big Red's offensive futility this season can be attributed to the starting of a freshman, Lisa Turner, at setter. And the Lions (0-5 in the conference), who are in far worse disarray than the Big Red (7-13, 1-4), have been thus far unable to get consistent contributions from any of their setters. "Being that the setter is basically the center of the offense. If you are inexperienced, it can cause a lot of incohesiveness," Penn setter Heather Tillett said. "A lot of the decision-making doesn't come from practice. It comes from actual game time experience." Tillett suffered growing pains herself in trying to make the transition from a full-time reserve into the center of Penn's offense. At this point in the season, however, Tillett has become one of the stronger setters in the Ivy League. "I would definitely consider her a veteran," Penn co-captain Jessica Luftman said. "Not just because of her playing this year, but her role on the team in the past. She is a motivator on the court." While Penn may not have dominating offensive hitters like Princeton or the consistent passing attack of Harvard, the Quakers do enter the weekend with the Ivy League's deepest arsenal. Abigail Daniels, the powerful sophomore outside hitter, returns to the starting lineup this weekend for Penn after missing last weekend with a shoulder injury. This will likely land freshman K.C. Potter -- who had 27 kills at the Marist Invite -- back on the bench. Look for Feeney, however, to call upon Potter and sophomore middle blocker Karen Lewis, to contribute in a reserve capacity. "At Harvard, Karen stepped in and was very important," Feeney said. "As a coach, I feel great that we have three great middle blockers and are very deep at the outside hitters." Sophomores Megan McKay and Katy Stock will also see action, spelling Sue Sabatino and Jen Law on defense. As always, there is great parody between the teams in the Ancient Eight. And while Cornell and Columbia are a combined 1-9 in the Ivies (the Big Red's only league win came against the Lions), if either match is overlooked, Penn could easily lose. "Records are not representative of a team's playing ability," Luftman said. Since Monday, the Quakers have been practicing for their final home weekend under the assumption that both matches will be tough, hard-fought battles." "We've been working on a lot of mental toughness -- problem situations that we have to solve ourselves," Tillett said. "So we find the problems and change them right away to avoid ups and downs." This practice technique should translate into improved communication on the court between the starting six and limit Feeney's need to waste her timeouts early in the match. Coming off last weekend's nine-game sweep, team confidence is at an all-time high. The Quakers now only hope that they will have a large homecoming crowd to route them on to victory. "I hope to see a large turnout because it is our last home Ivy League weekend this season," Luftman said.

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