Volleyball plays last three on the road

After squandering a 2-0 lead against La Salle on Tuesday night at the Palestra, the Penn volleyball team did not practice Wednesday, taking what Quakers setter Amy Schutte called "a mental day." Penn (12-12) has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on more than one occasion this season, but never on such a grand scale as on Tuesday's Senior Night. The Quakers stood three points from a 3-0 victory and were serving to the Explorers (15-13) when the roof fell in on the Red and Blue. Penn lost the match in an excruciating 15-12 fifth game. "I think that we've taken everything out of that match that we can," Schutte said. "We put the rest behind us." Having done so, all is well again for the Quakers. Practice went well yesterday; today, Penn heads to Fairfield, Conn., to visit Sacred Heart (3-31). At one point this season, the Pioneers had lost 20 consecutive matches, including two 3-0 decisions to Long Island, whom the Quakers destroyed in October. Penn will stay in Connecticut on Saturday, traveling to New Haven for the Yale Tournament, where, ironically, it will not battle the Elis. The Quakers will, however, face a team that beat them last year, in the form of severely weakened Loyola (6-21). Penn will also battle Manhattan (13-9) at Payne Whitney Gym. The Jaspers may prove the most difficult opponent for the Red and Blue. Manhattan took a game in a loss to Princeton -- the top team in the Ivies -- and beat LIU 3-0. The Jaspers also handled Columbia with ease, but so did the Quakers. "Manhattan is pretty tough," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "Loyola beat us last year -- we were better than them, but it was early in the year [when the Quakers struggled to open Major's tenure at Penn]." The Quakers will use this weekend's matches as a tune-up for the Ivy League Tournament on more than one level. Not only will Penn try to work out some kinks in its game, the Quakers will empty the bench, making sure the entire team is rust-free and ready for Penn's first-round Ivy matchup with Harvard. Penn shocked the Crimson in the teams' regular-season meeting, dealing Harvard one of its two Ivy losses. "Our main focus is to pull everything together," said Schutte, the regular backup who will almost certainly start tonight against the Pioneers. "I love to be out there, and everyone accepts me like I'm the normal starter. It makes everything else worthwhile when I do get to play." While Schutte will enjoy this weekend's opportunity, she will not be taking over for starter Jodie Antypas. Performances turned in this weekend and in next week's practices will likely have some influence on Major's decisions on playing time at other positions. "It's all up to Kerry," Penn co-captain and middle blocker Karin Witte said. "I leave it up to her. We're really looking forward to this weekend." Penn's freshmen have really been the players who have caused any and all of the possible struggles for playing time. Over the course of the season, Major has said, regarding many a freshman, "I've got to find a way to get her out there." Stacey Carter has been invaluable to the Quakers in the front row, providing highly efficient play at all three front positions, pushing everyone for time. Michelle Kliszewski is now splitting time with senior K.C. Potter at outside hitter. Shayna Higa is second on the Quakers in service aces, but her defensive specialist spot is very crowded. Whatever happens this weekend, the objective for the Quakers remains team-based. They must prepare for the Ivy League championship and still must figure out how to win three games in each match. Penn has a lot to build on from the near-win on Tuesday against the Explorers. "It was the best defense we've played," Major said. "And we have to keep the individuals from getting down? [This weekend] is a tune-up for Ivies. We need to get the pieces all in order so that we have no weaknesses. It should be a fun relaxing, good hard-working weekend, and then three good practices, a long bus ride and Harvard."

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