Volleyball hosts Oregon reunion

Megan McKay and Yale's Rosie Wustrack grew up together in Oregon. After Tuesday's tough 3-0 loss at Princeton, the Penn volleyball team hopes to rebound this weekend. However, the task won't be easy; the Quakers will have their hands full as they host Brown tonight and Yale tomorrow at the Palestra. In their loss to Princeton, the Quakers played without confidence and made several mental errors. "Mentally, we have to put that in the back of our minds and move forward," senior Megan McKay said. "We can't dwell." With only two days to remedy the problem, Penn coach Kerry Major held coach-player meetings in an attempt to refocus the team. Major held a full practice Wednesday and a light practice yesterday. The main aim of the sessions was passing under pressure -- something the Red and Blue struggled with against Princeton. "I want us to play the kind of Penn volleyball we played last weekend," Major said, referring to the team's sweeping victories over Drexel and Colgate. "That's more important than winning." Penn (5-6, 0-1 Ivy League) gets its chance to get back to .500 against Brown (8-6, 0-0) tonight. The Bears are coming off a 3-2 loss to Providence on Wednesday. One of Brown's premier players is outside hitter Tomo Nakanishi, a junior from Japan. At the Northeastern Invitational last weekend, she registered 58 kills, giving her an average of 4.83 kills per game. In addition, her 2.33 digs per game resulted in an All-Tournament Team selection. However, Yale will be Penn's tougher opponent this weekend. Led by two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Rosie Wustrack, the Elis (9-4, 0-0) won the Hartford Classic by defeating Marist, Holy Cross and Hartford 3-1, 3-0, 3-1 respectively. Moreover, the Elis remain undefeated against East Coast schools in 1998. "I think they have the best all-around team talent-wise [in the Ivy League]," Major said. The Eli squad is led by four seniors -- defensive specialist Sonushya Mathai, setter Sarahliz Braugh, rightside hitter Katharine Foster-Keddie and middle blocker Rosie Wustrack. Wustrack, last week's Ivy League Player of the Week, is one of the best players in Ivy League volleyball history. In her freshman year she won the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award and was named Second Team All-Ivy. The last two seasons Wustrack has been named First Team All-Ivy. She was also Ivy League Player of the Year both years. "I knew she would make an impact," said McKay, the Quaker defensive specialist who has been friends with Wustrack since fourth grade. "She's that type of player. She's aggressive and enthusiastic." "[Wustrack] very rarely makes errors," McKay added. "She's a smart hitter and she always finds the holes." Finding the holes hasn't been a problem this season. Wustrack currently averages 3.47 kills per game with a hitting percentage of .362. She also leads the Eli team with 20 service aces as she attempts to become the first person in history to be a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year. In order to stop Wustrack, the Quakers need to put at least one -- but preferably two -- blockers on her at one time. "She'll get her kills," Major said. "We need to serve tough and put them on the defensive." The key to Penn's success against Yale will be to minimize Wustrack's chances while preventing the rest of the Eli team members from stepping up their games. However, first, the Quakers must regain the intensity and confidence they showed last weekend and play competitively against Brown tonight.

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