Volleyball reflects on Ivy championship, first NCAA berth

The day after the Penn volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker in last year's Ivy League tournament, then-junior setter Jodie Antypas already had a goal in mind for the 2001 season.

"Jodie came into my office and said, 'It's 365 days until we win the Ivy League championship,'" Penn coach Kerry Major said.

Antypas wasn't kidding.

The 2001 Quakers posted an 11-3 record in Ancient Eight play en route to capturing a share of the Ivy crown for the first time since 1990.

"Winning the Ivy League championship was more heart and desire than anything," Major said. "We accomplished a goal that the seniors really put forth as what they wanted to do before they left here."

The three seniors -- Antypas, outside hitter Stephanie Horan and middle hitter Kelly Szczerba -- also achieved individual goals in the process.

Each senior will leave Penn ranked second in the individual career category for which they are best known -- Antypas in assists (3,545), Horan in digs (1,284) and Szczerba in total blocks (446).

"It will be hard to see them go," Major said. "They helped build the character of this team. They knew what sacrifices they would have to make to be the best. They were close to each other, and I think that rubbed off on how close the team was."

That closeness also helped the Quakers focus on team achievements, not individual ones.

"It wasn't about playing time to them," Major said. "It was about putting the best team out there to win."

And Penn was victorious. The 2001 Quakers (18-7 overall) won 72 percent of their games -- the third-highest mark since 1979.

Among the Red and Blue's 18 wins was a 3-1 victory over Princeton at Dillon Gym on Oct. 5. It was Penn's first win over the Tigers since 1993.

"Beating Princeton was a huge stepping stone for us," Major said. "We've struggled mentally with Princeton for as long as I've been here, so for us to come out physically and mentally stronger than them for the first time was huge for us."

Exactly two weeks after that match against Princeton, Major reached a personal milestone -- her 100th coaching victory.

"Individual stats are great, but they don't mean anything unless you pull it all together as a team," Major said modestly. "In the whole scheme of the season, I would have traded in all 99 wins for the 100th win to take the Ivy League championship."

This year also marked Penn's first-ever NCAA tournament berth. After defeating Ivy co-champion Brown, 3-1, in a one-game playoff for the automatic bid, the Quakers traveled to Penn State last weekend to face No. 8 UCLA in the first round of NCAAs.

Penn put up a strong fight against the perennial national powerhouse, but eventually gave way to the Bruins, 30-26, 30-25, 30-23.

It wasn't Major's first time at the national championship tournament. As an assistant under Hawaii coaching legend Dave Shoji from 1993-94, Major traveled with the Wahine to "December Madness."

But this time, Major took her own team to the season culminating event.

"It means so much more to me to see how far Penn volleyball has come," Major said. "For Penn to go from sixth in the league to tied for first, and then go on to NCAAs, was just a completely different feeling."

And the Quakers are hoping that they'll get the chance to have that feeling again next season.

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