Volleyball can only muster one

Defeat Manhattan College between losses to Syracuse and Central Connecticut at Syracuse Invitational The Penn volleyball team came home with its first win of the year under its belt, however, two losses came attached as well. In a tough weekend series, three matches in two days proved to be enough of a road trip. The Quakers (1-2) showed that there is a lot to work on and just as much to build on early in the season. Although only one victory came of the showing, the Quakers demonstrated promising resilience at this point in the 1997 season. "We would have felt better coming back 2-1 instead of 1-2," Penn coach Margaret Feeney said. "But coming out with the five-game win against Manhattan -- that we did showed a lot." Starting the road trip with Syracuse on Friday night, the Quakers faced the task of playing a "big, athletic team," in Feeney's words. Syracuse downed the Penn women in three straight games. With scores of 15-8, 15-4 and 15-6, the Orangemen proved to be just too much. "I think we just have a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out," Penn junior Sue Sabatino said. "I think we kind of just took it as our first tournament and first game and didn't get down." The Friday night match did not have long to settle in the players' minds, as they had to face Manhattan at 10 a.m. Saturday. This result proved to be better for the Quakers. "I thought we played well against Manhattan," Feeney said. "The middles showed that they are going to be very strong for us this year." These middle blockers proved to be virtually unstoppable. Juniors Karen Lewis and Sabatino had their way with Manhattan blocking and defensive schemes. Sabatino tallied 11 kills in the five-set victory, while Lewis compiled nine. Significant offensive firepower also came from the hitting of Jackie Morris with 10 kills. "It was a lot of fun playing them," Sabatino said. "Usually when the middle gets going, that means the passing is going well." The outside hitting of Diana Meek and K.C. Potter also helped fill in what was a battered hitting core for the weekend series. Both players had seven kills in the Manhattan match. The hitters were somewhat depleted due to the injured status of Angie Whittenburg. Whittenburg was unable to partake in practices last week, but contributed to the offense with superb passing. "I think any little injury is going to affect your game," Feeney said. "Your ability to play volleyball is going to be hindered." The five-game match with Manhattan was one in which the Quakers fought back from behind. After losing two of the first three, they won the last two games by scores of 15-11 and 17-15. The last game of the weekend gave the Quakers a similar match, but this time they came out on the other side of the decision. The nightcap on Saturday paired them with Central Connecticut. The upside to the loss was once again a strong showing by the middle blocking core. "Even in the loss to Central Connecticut, they couldn't stop our middles," Feeney said. Sabatino amassed a total of 20 kills, while Lewis and Morris both put 11 on the board. The turning point of the match came in the fourth game. With the Quakers going up 2-1 in games, and looking to put away the match, "our serve reception broke down," in the words of Feeney. The Quakers fell subject to a 10-point service run, falling 9-15 in the fourth contest. They were unable to regain their momentum for the last game and fell, 7-15. The service reception was strong in the mind of Feeney for the rest of the weekend. Led by the play of defensive specialist and senior co-captain Megan McKay, who had 12 digs against both Manhattan and Central Connecticut, some good defensive play emerged for Penn. Senior Heather Tillett, another Penn captain, got the nod at setter all three contests, and led a solid weekend of ball control for the Quakers. This week will be one to work on defense, according to Feeney. They will try to prepare for New Hampshire, Navy and Drexel at this weekend's Quaker Classic. The Red and Blue will look for redemption at home, and a new result in front of the Palestra crowd.

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