Volleyball gets big win, then drops one

Every once in a while Penn athletics has the last laugh. And this time Penn's volleyball team ended laughing as they defeated Brown, the 1996 Ivy League champions. Penn lost to Brown twice last season, both times in straight games. "I was very, very pleased with the win against the defending champions in their home facility," Penn coach Margaret Feeney said. Not only was this a win, it was also a display of the team's determination. Penn was down 0-2 when the team pulled together, winning three games in a row, to defeat the Bears. The Quakers lost the first two games, 8-15, 14-16, and then proceeded to win the next two games decisively. In the final deciding game Penn rallied from 8-12 to win, 18-16. Freshman middle blocker Diana Meek played strongly against Brown, posting .353 kill percentage and seven blocks assisted. Also, sophomore right side hitter Angie Whittenberg contributed offensively with a .277 kill percentage. Senior captain Heather Tillet continued to be a team player with three services aces and 12 blocks. With confidence high, the team traveled to Yale Saturday, where it posted a disappointing loss, 13-15, 12-15, 13-15. Penn junior middle blocker Sue Sabatino explained that after the Brown win "our confidence had gone up, but we were not consistent enough at Yale." The Quakers had a hard time starting each game well. Penn was down 1-7 in two of the games, and then battled back to tie the score at 12-12. However, the Quakers were unable to hold on to the heat of the moment, as each game ended in a close loss. Yale's lineup included junior Rosie Wustrack, 1996 Ivy League Player of the Year, and senior Phoebe Dann, 1996 honorable mention All-Ivy. Wustrack had 16 kills, which was too much for the Quakers defense, despite a strong effort by senior outside hitter Jessica Luftman. Luftman had 17 digs, raising her season total to 122 (3.81 digs per game). Junior middle blocker Karen Lewis "continues to play well," according to Feeney. Lewis holds the highest overall kill percentage on the team (.311), and is amongst the top in the Ivies. However, against Yale, Lewis was only able to muster a .227 hitting percentage. As always, the team was "disappointed with the loss, but we'll take it and learn from it," Feeney said. Penn has some time to recuperate from the loss and focus on improving since the next conference game is not for two weeks. This weekend was full of ups and downs for the Quakers, but "the Brown win was a peak of what's to come, of what we can do," according to Sabatino.