Volleyball set to play two

In playing Princeton last Friday, the Penn volleyball team faced -- and conquered -- its toughest mental challenge of the season.

Now, the Quakers will follow that up with one of their toughest physical challenges of 2001.

This Saturday, Penn (7-3, 1-0 Ivy League) will take on Cornell (9-5, 1-1) as part of an Ivy League weekend doubleheader at the Palestra.

The Quakers will first compete against Columbia (7-4, 1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on the Big Red Saturday at 4 p.m.

"Cornell should be stronger," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "Their strength is in their hitting. They have a strong offense, and a powerful block that is pretty equivalent to ours."

To win, Penn will need to contain Cornell's pair of 5-foot-11 outside hitters, sophomore Debbie Quibell and senior Jennifer Borncamp. Both players are averaging over three kills per game on the season.

"Stopping their No. 1 hitters is going to be our most important task," Major said. "We're just going to have to be savvy and adjust to them immediately."

Penn will also need to get things going on the offensive end.

"We're working a lot on offense in practice this week," Major said. "We've been practicing our hitting and tooling off the block in case we get stuck and trapped."

The Quakers faced the Big Red twice last season. During the regular season, Penn annihilated Cornell, 3-0, at the Palestra.

But the Big Red got their revenge in the Ivy League postseason tournament, defeating Penn, 3-1, in the semifinals.

"We went into the tournament, they brought their `A' game and we weren't really prepared to play them," Major said. "So we do want to avenge that loss, as they were the very last team we played last season."

First, however, the Quakers will try to maintain their historical dominance over Columbia. Penn has never dropped a match to the Lions, winning 28 times in 28 tries.

But the Quakers will certainly have their work cut out for them, as they will be facing Columbia junior and two-time Ivy League Player of the Week Kathy Lavold.

Penn was able to shut down the 6-foot-2 middle blocker last year and hopes to do the same again this weekend.

The Quakers will also be focusing on Madia Willis, a 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter with strong jumping ability.

"Once we capitalize on those two hitters, the rest will come with our normal defense and offense," Major said. "But if those two girls get on, then we could be in trouble."

However, the Lions and the Big Red are the ones that will be in trouble if the Quakers are able to stay as mentally focused as they were against the Tigers.

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