Volleyball wins three at Colgate

The Quakers went 3-1 at the Colgate Tournament, including a come-from-behind win over LaSalle. The Quakers went 3-1 at the Colgate Tournament, including a come-from-behind win over LaSalle. The Penn volleyball team went to Hamilton, N.Y., this weekend hoping to bring some match experience and team togetherness back to Philadelphia. Penn defeated Albany (0-4) in three games to open the tournament and fell in five games to Colgate in their second match on Friday night. On Saturday, the Quakers came back to steal a pair of five-game matches from La Salle and Siena. "When it comes down to that fifth game, it's a matter of heart and soul," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "And that's the kind of team that I'm trying to build. I'm really excited about what [those victories] can do for the season ahead." Penn sophomore Stephanie Horan, who led the Quakers last year with 231 kills, started her second season impressively, notching 55 kills in the four-match tournament. She had 12 or more kills in every match, including 14 against La Salle and 17 against Siena on Saturday. Major had said before the tournament that she wanted to beat La Salle (6-3) more than any other team in the tournament, and doing so took the best effort the Quakers could muster. Penn jumped out to a 1-0 lead by winning the first game 15-6, as the Explorers seemed to underestimate the Quakers' capabilities. Then, however, La Salle stormed back, taking the next two games, 15-13 and 15-6. "We had a couple of lapses," Penn sophomore Jodie Antypas said. "Defensively, we let them come on, we let them get back into the match." The Quakers made the necessary adjustments, and sent the match to a fifth game with a 15-11 fourth game. Penn trailed 14-11 in the decisive game when Major called time-out. In the fifth game, rally scoring is used, meaning that points are scored on all serves, including those that would normally be sideouts. So, if Penn had made even one mistake, the match would be over and La Salle would have emerged victorious. The Quakers dramatically rolled off five straight points to capture the match, 16-14, in the fifth game. "Everyone just felt extremely elated," Penn senior Karin Witte said. "Especially in the fifth game down 11-14, a lot of teams can't come back from that position. You really need to make zero errors, and I think it demonstrated superior mental toughness on our part." Almost everyone on the Quakers had their best match of the tournament against La Salle, as is evidenced by the stat sheet. "I could go down the roster and name everyone -- everyone played awesome," Major said. "No one disappointed me. Everyone exceeded my expectations." Sophomore Kelly Szczerba had 14 kills and freshman Michelle Kleszewski had eight. Antypas had 52 of Penn's 54 assists and the team's first-game hitting percentage of .516 was higher than even its .500 percentage in the third game against Albany. Perhaps most impressive, though, was the performance of freshman Alexis Zimbalist, who, playing about half of the match, had 32 digs, twice as many as any other Penn player. "I really didn't know what to expect," Zimbalist said. "As a team, that was the match that we all played the best in, and I hope to continue with it for the rest of the season." K.C. Potter's seven kills against the Explorers were somewhat less staggering but the senior's leadership and clutch performance put a smile on the face of her coach. "[Potter] really stepped up in pressure situations, which she really hasn't been the best at in the past," Major said. "I was really excited to see that." Potter, who had 12 kills against Siena (1-3), was particularly happy with the weekend's results. "We weren't expected to do too well," she said. "But we came out with some good wins. Starting with a winning record is a good confidence booster from the start." The only real cause for concern from the tournament was that Penn squandered a 2-1 lead against Colgate (5-4). The Quakers, however, were at the end of a long day of traveling and playing. The Red Raiders also outhit Penn in four of the five games, including a .316 mark in the second game. It was the first time that Colgate has ever defeated the Red and Blue in their six meetings. "They were stronger than last year," Major said. "And their strengths were just too much at this point in the season. I think that if we play them on Saturday night, it's a different story." With a 3-1 start, Penn's volleyball story is already different from last season's 1-4 opening. If the Quakers can continue their strong play and finish over .500 for the first time since 1996, Major's prophecy -- "It's going to be a fun season" -- will be fulfilled.