Volleyball has best year since '87

Three months and 30 matches later, the Penn volleyball team has shown that youth and inexperience don't automatically spell disaster. The Quakers ended the season with an overall mark of 22-8, their best finish since 1987, when the team went 24-10. In the Ivy League, Penn went 5-2, finishing second only to eventual Ivy League champion Princeton (20-7, 6-1). Penn did a great job all season avoiding the effects of inexperience. Most novice teams suffer the fate of long losing streaks because they are unable to bounce back from tough losses. Penn, on the other hand, lost consecutive matches only once this entire season, and never had a winning streak of less than three. "The heart of this team is impressive and it is to their efforts that these players pushed through for some major victories this season," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "We never quit, never let up, never said die, even at the end." The backbone of Penn's success this season has been its defense. The Quakers finished the regular season ranked first in the Ivy League in blocks (271.5), digs per game (18.79) and digs (1879). Penn's dominance at the net can be mostly attributed to three players -- right side hitter Stacey Carter and middle blockers Kelly Szczerba and Heather Janssen. All three of these players finished in the top 10 on the Ivy League blocks per game list. Most notably of Penn's trio of blockers is Szczerba, who led the Ivies in blocks (125) and blocks per game (1.42). Penn's floor defense was equally exemplary. In the backcourt, the Quakers were led by outside hitters Stephanie Horan and Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan. Horan finished second in the Ivies in digs per game (3.86), and Kwak-Hefferan finished seventh in the same category (3.14). Although Penn was outdug by its opponents this season (1,958-1,879), this discrepancy should be attributed to problems with offensive execution, not defensive play. One of the main reasons why the Quakers were not untouchable this season was the inability of their hitters to consistently put the ball down. Penn finished dead last in the Ivies in kills per game (12.76) and assists per game (11.12). The Quakers also had no representation in the Ivy individual hitting percentage and kills per game lists. "We have the defense," Major said. "[We need to] expand our offensive capabilities so that we are not so predictable in what we can and can't do." In a few matches scattered throughout the season, the Quakers did have strong offensive games. One example was Penn's meeting with Harvard on October 7, when the Quakers amassed 60 kills and hit .257 en route to a straight-game victory. For the most part, however, this offense did not show up consistently. The Quakers hit sub-.100 in several matches this season, including their losses to Cornell and Princeton. Penn's hitters became predictable in those two matches, and key opposing blockers -- Cornell's Ashley Stover and Princeton's Emily Brown -- were able to single-handedly shut down Penn's offense. The Quakers have many things going for them, however, come next year. One advantage Penn will have over all other Ivy League teams is that it will lose no one to graduation this May. "Cornell loses their MVP, Robin Moore," Major said. "Princeton loses Sabrina King, their defensive star, and Emily Brown, their top middle. We lose no one. That has got to be an advantage at the beginning of the season." Penn -- a team composed of three juniors, three sophomores and nine freshmen -- will use this season as a learning experience and come back even stronger next year. "I expect the team to work hard and improve in the offseason and during summer workouts," Major said. "My hope is to be the team to beat by midway through the season."

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