Volleyball wins for the first time in California

The Quakers defeated Cal State-Fullerton in a five-game battle Saturday. After being delayed by both Hurricane Floyd and United Airlines, the Penn volleyball team finally made it to San Francisco on separate U.S. Airways flights on Friday night. "When our luggage went and we didn't, that's when I lost it," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "One by one we got bumped down the list. Whoever had the highest-priced tickets got to go in front of us, so we switched airlines. It was tough but we did eventually all get out there and got a good night's rest." On Saturday, the Quakers even got to play, and on Sunday they came home with an impressive 4-4 record for the season after beating Cal State-Fullerton in their second match that day to emerge with Penn's first-ever volleyball victory in California. "Once we got there, it was a good trip," Penn senior K.C. Potter said. "It was so built up because of the delays but once we got there, everyone was really relieved." The Quakers were relieved, but very flat in their first match of the Golden Gate Invitational on Saturday, falling to Fresno State, 15-10, 15-6, 15-5. Penn's highest hitting percentage of the match was a meager .033 in the first game, and the Quakers fell below .000 in the second and third games. Penn then regrouped and took a five-game match from Fullerton that evening. While it was Penn's first-ever victory in California, it was the second time that the Quakers have beaten a California team -- Penn beat St. Mary's in four games at the William and Mary High IQ Classic in 1995. "[After the Fresno State match], we regrouped, and thought 'Did we come all this way to play like this?'" Penn coach Kerry Major said. "Then we went out and played awesome defense, and we stuck with it until the job was done [against Fullerton]." After winning a close first game against the Titans, Penn dropped the second game, 15-4. Although the Quakers lost 15-10 in the third game, their resiliency was impressive. "When we lost game two to Cal State-Fullerton, it would have been really easy to fold," Major said. "One of our goals was if we lost a game like that to come back, and I didn't want to have that spiral effect like against Rutgers. They played the way I know they can play." Penn faced match points in the fourth and fifth games against the Titans but still pulled through, winning 16-14 in each game. "We probably played the best level of ball we've played this season against Fullerton," said Penn freshman Kai Gonsorowski, who had 14 digs and four service aces in the match. "I think we started to realize that we're better than we think we are." The victory was Penn's third straight triumph in a five-game match. The cardiac Quakers are comfortable with that, however, because of the makeup of their team. "We have a lot of depth and a lot of heart," said Potter, who had 15 kills and six digs against the Titans. "We played confidently the whole match, and we knew that we were capable of beating them, and we pulled it out. Five-game matches are always really tight and intense and we played really hard and won the match." Because of the victory against Fullerton, Penn had a chance on Sunday against San Francisco to take second place in the tournament behind the Bulldogs. The Dons proved to be too big and tough, however, and beat the Quakers in three games. For her performance, Potter was named to her first-ever All-Tournament team. "It's an incredible honor to be noticed by the other coaches," Potter said. Still, she said the best part of the weekend was "beating Fullerton." Penn will need to keep that team focus up tonight when the team travels north to face Lehigh (3-6). The Engineers, who like Penn have played a tough pre-conference schedule, are the two-time defending Patriot League champions and are very tough to beat on their home floor. After all of their traveling, the Quakers had a day off from practicing yesterday but they do not believe that the lack of work in the gym will have any effect on their play. "We played so much this weekend that I think we're ready [for the Engineers]," said Penn senior Kristel Weaver, who hit .367 against Fullerton. "After going through the whole struggle this weekend, I think that we will be really strong when we face Lehigh." The Quakers will be happy that once they do return from their contest with the Engineers, they do not have to travel any further than Villanova until October.