Volleyball opens Ivy season at Princeton

Riding a four-game win streak, the Quakers feel they have a chance to upset the defending league champs. Here are some important events in American history: D-Day, man lands on the moon? Penn versus Princeton. The Penn volleyball team (5-5, 0-0 Ivy League) travels to Princeton (6-7, 0-0 Ivy League) tonight in a match that begins its Ivy League season. After two wins this weekend, Penn is at .500 and has won four games in a row. "We're in the best position possible to beat Princeton right now," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "We're really playing at the top of our game." Senior co-captain Katy Stock agrees with Major. "Our team has really peaked at the right time," Stock said. "We have a completely different mentality than we have had in past years. We know we should win. In the past, it hasn't been like that." Princeton has had a stranglehold on the Ivy League for the past four years. The Tigers have won the Ivy League title three of the last four years, including last year's 17-5 season which culminated with a victory over Dartmouth at the Ivy League tournament. Penn has struggled against the Tigers in that time. In fact, no player currently on the Quakers roster has beaten Princeton. The Red and Blue also opened its Ivy league season against Princeton last year and were crushed 3-0. The situation, however, is different this year. The standings in the Ivy League now show Penn in fourth place and Princeton right behind in fifth. Because of the Quakers' winning streak, team confidence is high. The Tigers recent success, though, is still a factor. "It would be a big step for us to beat a team that we've lost to for so long," Major said. "This year, we have a more well-rounded team than they do and our middle is stronger. They have some strong athletes, though, and great outside hitters." Princeton's Rose Kuhn and Sabrina King are the outside hitters on which the Quakers will focus. "Kuhn and King can hit on the line and can hit the angle, so we'll do our best to hit away from them and towards their middle," Major said. Senior Sue Sabatino, who should be a key component to that strategy, is confident in the Quakers' defensive strategy. "We plan to shut down the outside hitters by blocking the line and angle shots, and forcing them to hit tips," Sabatino said. While playing on the outside will be a key for Princeton, good passing will be the primary factor if Penn is to win the match. The Quakers will start freshman Jodie Antypas as their setter. She played a big role in Penn's weekend victories recording 41 assists against Drexel and 45 versus Colgate. "We've been doing really well with our passing game and as long as we have continued success with that, we will be able to run our offense," Antypas said. "Passing is always the key," Stock said. "Usually the team with the higher passing statistic wins the game, and after this weekend, we are confident we will have a high statistic against Princeton." The passing statistic is scored out of three, meaning that a perfect pass gives three hitters the option of hitting the ball. Over the weekend, the Quakers had a passing statistic of 2.4. "We've really stepped it up as far as passing is concerned," Sabatino said. "We've cut down our errors significantly since the beginning of the season." Hopefully for the Quakers, confidence, solid passing and tough outside defense will translate into an historic victory.

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