Villanova handles Volleyball with ease

The 7-6 Quakers are now 0-3 against opponents from the tough Big East Conference VILLANOVA, Pa. -- The Penn volleyball team wanted to start last night's match with Villanova on the right foot. In their past two matches, the Quakers had been weak in the opening games and against the Wildcats, they wanted to be on their game right from the start. After a long rally to open the match, Penn sophomore Stephanie Horan blasted a ball into the Villanova backcourt. Moments later, senior Kristel Weaver drilled one off the 'Nova block. Penn led 2-0 and it looked like the Quakers would give the Wildcats a good fight. Then, the Quakers (7-6) went flatter than a three-day-old, half-empty can of Dr. Pepper. "Our emotion and communication are there when we start and we don't continue beyond the first two points with the intensity that we've begun with," said Karin Witte, who led Penn in kills for the second straight match with nine. "So we've figured out what it is what we're not doing." By not keeping up their intensity, the Red and Blue's lead quickly evaporated,and Villanova (8-8) was soon up 9-2. Of the nine points scored by the Wildcats on their first three serves, only one was not the result of some sort of mistake by the Quakers. When Villanova started playing up to its own level, the result was rather academic. The Wildcats emerged victorious, 15-6, 15-7, 15-7. Since 1994, Villanova is 34-12 on its home floor. The Quakers, who tallied three aces opposite their 12 service errors last night, are fortunate to not be members of the Big East. Last night's loss made Penn 0-3 for this season against that conference. "We need to cut the mistakes out," said Penn setter Amy Schutte, who came off the bench to tally three kills, eight assists and a 1.000 hitting percentage. "But this was a good wake-up call and I'm glad it happened now and not while we're in the Ivy season." Penn raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second game but quickly came crashing down again. At the same time, Villanova was heating up. The Quakers hit just .051 in that game, while the Wildcats advanced to .314 from their first-game mark of .162. "We did some nice things and it was a nice team effort," Villanova coach Heather Hoehn said. "I was most pleased with Ruth Ann Blankenheim. That was the first time she's gotten up and terminated the ball on a consistent basis. She also did a great job playing defense for us." Blankenheim's block in the second game cut Penn's lead to 4-3 and re-energized the Wildcats after the Quakers' strong start to the game. She went on to record nine kills and a match-high 18 digs. "Villanova did a good job picking up our shots, and that got to our hitters and made them a little more tentative," Penn assistant coach Orlin Jespersen said. "That became a little more of a factor in the second game and we have to be aware of that and still make smart shots." But Penn did not do that last night. The offense peppered the out-of-bounds areas, the net and the Villanova blockers with shots all night long but encountered some degree of difficulty piloting balls to the floor in the gaps of the Wildcats defense. "I think it's something we can fix because it's not a physical problem," Witte said. "It's a mental problem." Whatever the problem is, Penn has exactly 10 days to work it out. The Quakers start Ivy play at Brown next Friday and any aspirations for an Ivy League title rest on Penn's ability to get the job done offensively. There will be one more tuneup for the Red and Blue before they travel to face the Bears and Yale next weekend. Penn heads to Lafayette this Friday. "We're aware of all of our weaknesses now," said Penn coach Kerry Major, who uncharacteristically had little to say after last night's match. "Our next two practices are going to be about taking care of that. This is definitely a humbling experience, we can find out where we need to go from here and it's great to get this over before Ivies -- we're going to learn and grow from this." One element of the Red and Blue's game that does not need to grow too much more is the defense, which, although it too had a subpar match against the Wildcats, still performed well. The Quakers dug 53 balls last night and were led by freshman Kai Gonsorowski, who had 13. Horan was also in double figures with 11 and K.C. Potter had nine. Penn also did not completely roll over, which is an encouraging sign for when a comeback is more feasible. "I feel like the attitude stayed pretty positive," Schutte said. "That's been a problem in the past, but now, even [when] we're not passing well or hitting well, people stay positive." Down 13-3 in the third game, the Quakers -- led mostly at that point by their bench -- rallied to make the score 13-7 to strike fear into the hearts of the Wildcats. But the charge was too late in arriving and the Quakers finally fell.

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