NOTEBOOK: Volleyball finds new diversity of offense

The Quakers are finding success by spreading out their offensive game. After nine matches this season, the Penn volleyball team stands at 5-4. Last year, the Quakers went 4-5 to open the season. That doesn't seem like a very big improvment at first glance -- but it certainly is. Penn has a much deeper team this year, and instead of taking on weaker opponents like Lafayette, Sacred Heart and Drexel -- three teams Penn beat early last year -- the Quakers have taken on tough competition, playing three California teams at the Golden Gate Invitational and playing their only home match until October 15 against a very talented Rutgers squad. Before the Colgate Tournament and the weekend in San Francisco, Penn coach Kerry Major said, "on paper, we should lose." For those two weekends, the Quakers were 4-3. · The Penn offense has been much more diverse this year than in the past. After relying very heavily on then-senior Sue Sabatino and then-freshman Stephanie Horan last year, the Quakers have become less predictable on the attack. "[The diversity] doesn't surprise me," Major said. "Jodie [Antypas] runs the court out there. I don't think she really gets enough credit. She really decides who gets those kills and she spreads out the offense." The offense has indeed been spread out. Five of the Quakers -- Horan, sophomore Kelly Szczerba and seniors K.C. Potter, Kristel Weaver and Karin Witte -- have 50 or more kills. Antypas is the only predictable part of the attack. The sophomore setter, who had 796 assists last season, is well on her way to matching that total, tallying 325 so far this year. However, Antypas says she does not care about individual statistics. "I don't really know how many assists I have," said Antypas, who added five aces to her 40 assists in Tuesday's victory at Lehigh. "I'm not really out there for the stats. It's such a team sport that each person's individual record isn't going to win an Ivy League championship for the team." The numbers certainly don't hurt, though. · The player who has put up probably the most surprising numbers, however, is Witte. The senior co-captain was not part of the team as a freshman and through two years with the Quakers, she had registered only 11 kills. So far this season, Witte has 54 kills and is hitting .178. She has also been very important to the Quakers with her leadership off the court. "I'm pleased that I could fulfill the role and have that capacity on the team," Witte said. "Because of the difficulties I've had waiting to play, it's very rewarding now to be a part of it." While she hopes that her senior season culminates in an Ivy Championship, Witte is set on taking the small steps that lead to the larger ones. "It's exciting," Witte said. "But we have a lot of ground to cover before [thinking about the Ivy Championship]. We have to take care of the smaller goals, and we're not trying to think championship, but more about each match." · As Penn was delayed in going to San Francisco by Hurricane Floyd last Thursday, the Quakers had to wait at Philadelphia International Airport. Some of the Red and Blue players got a little bored waiting around the airport and a group of the Quakers raced around the airport in wheelchairs. "You're at the airport for 10 or so hours," Szczerba said. "There happened to be wheelchairs right there, so we decided to have a little fun." Who won the races? "Me, of course," Szczerba said. "But a wheelchair race is just for fun." "Kelly is pretty much the instigator with a little bit of the weirdness on the team," Major said. "Personalities come out on the road and that's fun to see." Another personality that came out on the trip was that of assistant coach Orlin Jespersen, who was popping wheelies in the terminal. "Orlin's looks can be very deceiving," Antypas said. "He seems really quiet, but he isn't." · In addition to this weekend's Sheraton Invitational at the Palestra, the Quakers will play in an alumni match on Sunday at noon. "Thirty alums are coming back from championship teams and from our first team in 1979 to recent graduates," Major said. "There'll be a lot of parties for them at Shula's and they're donating a lot of stuff for the raffle." At that match, Penn will announce the results of its raffle for those prizes, including a Diamond Rio MP3 player and dinners from Shula's Steak 2, as well as other Penn volleyball prizes.

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