Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan dove to the left and managed to dig what the 117 fans inside the Palestra on Sunday thought was a sure Tribe kill.
But that was just the beginning of the play that ultimately sparked the Quakers to finish their 3-0 rout of William and Mary.
Kai Gonsorowski sprinted halfway across the court and saved the ball from hitting the floor. In her desperate attempt to keep the play alive, Gonsorowski inched the ball over the net and put Penn ahead 28-23 in the third and final game.
Though Penn turned heads with its defeat of William and Mary -- a victory that was sweetened by the fact that Penn coach Kerry Carr knocked off her former college coach, Debbie Hill -- on the whole, the Quakers' weekend performance was not entirely encouraging.
While the Red and Blue defeated Columbia, 3-1, and William and Mary, their nine-game win streak ended Saturday with a shutout defeat by Cornell.
But the 3-0 boxscore does not reflect the lead-changing, emotional match between the Quakers and the Big Red.
In fact, Cornell's margin of victory in each of the three games was a mere two points.
Carr attributes the nail-biting defeat to her strategic error in the first game.
"The loss at Cornell was totally my fault," Carr said. "I put in the wrong lineup and the team got out of sync."
But Carr surely does not regret playing senior Elizabeth Watty. She posted a team-high 16 digs versus Cornell and continued her strong play versus William and Mary with a team-high 17 digs.
Still, an early loss in the Ivy League season is a bit of a disappointment to the defending Ivy League champions.
But Penn plans to use the defeat as motivation to improve.
"I'm glad that Cornell exposed our weaknesses," Carr said. "Now we know what to practice and hopefully we can use the loss to strengthen our team."
And if last year is any indication, the Quakers should not be overly concerned.
Cornell handed Penn its first Ivy League loss last year as well, which ultimately propelled the Red and Blue to an Ancient Eight title.
As of today, the Quakers (2-1) are tied for third with Brown and Princeton in the Ancient Eight, trailing Harvard (4-0) and Cornell (3-1).
But Carr remains confident about Penn's season.
"It is still anyone's ballgame," Carr said. "How well we do is under our control."
Improvement, Carr believes, will stem from a change in team strategy. Alternating Penn's offensive and defensive approaches will be particular focuses of this week's practice sessions.
"The team is really excited about practice this week," Carr said. "We will try to make our offense and defense less easy to predict."
The final determinant of success, however, will lie in whether Penn is good enough to repeat as Ivy League champions. To Carr, there seems to be no question.
"We are better than Cornell," Carr said. "And we will show that."
