Volleyball to face powerhouse UCLA in NCAA tourney

Talk about getting tossed into the deep end on your first day in the water.

The Penn volleyball team learned yesterday afternoon that it will face national power UCLA in the Quakers' first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.

"They're a perennial powerhouse in volleyball," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "Always have, always will."

Despite the David versus Goliath matchup, the Quakers are genuinely excited about facing the No. 8 seed out of 64 teams in the first round of NCAAs.

"I was really excited to hear that we would be playing UCLA," said Penn junior Elizabeth Watty, a native of Albany, Calif. "I was rooting to go out there and play some of the teams that I grew up watching."

But the Quakers found out later during the NCAA Selection Show that they would not be heading out to California.

Rather, Penn (18-6 overall) and UCLA (18-8) will meet on a neutral court -- Penn State's Rec Hall in State College, Pa. -- for their 5 p.m. matchup on Friday.

Playing in Happy Valley means that Penn might have more fans for its game, and it also means UCLA has to travel across the country for the match.

"They're seeded as the higher team, but they have to come out to the East Coast," Watty said. "They're going to be jet-lagged, and even the cold weather might be an advantage for us."

Penn has to keep in mind, however, that it'll be facing a team that finished the season ranked No. 14 in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll.

"I knew we'd hit one of those programs eventually," Major said. "But we're facing one of the best teams in the nation first."

The Bruins finished fourth in the extremely competitive Pac-10, behind Stanford, Arizona and Southern California -- all of which finished the regular season ranked in the top five nationally.

And UCLA accomplished this without its best player, senior Kristee Porter, who was suspended by the NCAA for part of the season. The 2000 All-American outside hitter will be eligible, however, for the postseason.

"She's back, just for us," Major joked, epitomizing the light, positive spirit the Quakers currently have for the match.

"The team has a 'Bring it on' kind of attitude, because what we do now is just icing on the cake to our season," Major said.

But the Quakers won't be letting UCLA walk all over them.

"We have an opportunity to show the nation that the Ivy League can play volleyball," Major said. "We just want to go out there and play fun volleyball. I don't think UCLA sees too many teams like that."

And perhaps that will help Penn win a game, or even a match -- neither of which have ever been accomplished by any Ancient Eight team in the NCAA tournament.

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