Volleyball rewrites history in victory against Princeton

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Penn volleyball team just took one small step for the season, and one huge step for the history of the program.

The Quakers stunned a rowdy crowd of more than 200 last Friday night, as Penn (7-3, 1-0 Ivy League) toppled two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton (6-5, 0-1), 3-1, at Dillon Gym in Princeton, N.J.

"I'm so happy, energetic and just ecstatic," Penn senior setter Jodie Antypas said. "I am so excited that we beat them. It was a total team effort."

The 30-26, 30-22, 28-30, 30-17 victory stretched the Quakers' winning streak to six matches, the longest ever under Penn fourth-year coach Kerry Major.

But more important to the team, it was the first time Penn had beaten the Tigers since 1993.

"I have never been so happy," said Penn senior middle hitter Kelly Szczerba, who had an astounding 13 total blocks in the win. "I know that it's just one game, but it's a big game. To beat them and finish playing as well as we possibly could is just the greatest feeling."

Needless to say, a huge wave of emotion swept over the Penn players on the court, those on the bench, the coaching staff and the rather large showing of Penn fans when Szczerba and junior right-side hitter Stacey Carter teamed up for a stuff block to win it.

"I guess everyone has a couple of tears in our eyes," Major said while still on the court after the match. "I'm a very emotional person, just as my team is, and I guess happiness is where those tears come from."

Even players that haven't had to wait out three years of straight-game losses to Princeton realized the significance of the victory.

"This win is huge," said Penn sophomore middle hitter Heather Janssen, whose 17 kills and team-high .467 hitting percentage played a large part in Penn's offensive success last Friday. "Last year we didn't bring our game. This year we were more confident and we worked really hard in practice, so we definitely expected to be able to get the win here."

Also significantly contributing to the victory offensively was the consistent play of Penn sophomore outside hitter Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, who led the team in kills (19) and digs (21).

Throughout the night, the Quakers had to face two opponents -- the Princeton players on the court and the Princeton fans up in the bleachers.

Whenever the Tigers showed signs of life, so did their fans, who became increasingly rowdy as the night went on. Several members of the crowd used their game media guides to identify Penn players on the court and shout expletives and sarcastic remarks at them.

"Rutgers has a terrible crowd, too," said Penn senior outside hitter Stephanie Horan, who had 20 digs over the match. "I guess I've learned to just blow it out of my mind or use it to get me even more fired up for the game."

Antypas, too, noticed a similarity between the two crowds, and pointed out that "it just makes it that much sweeter that we beat them, because that's the only thing that's going to shut them up."

And that's exactly what Princeton's fans did when Penn scored the final point for the win, which Major and her team consider to be the most significant in their Penn careers.

"I'm sure that for every sports team, every coach and every player that's ever competed at Penn, beating Princeton is like winning the championship," Major said. "I know we still have that ahead of us, but there's no greater feeling in the world than beating Princeton tonight."

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