Volleyball buries Princeton

After clinching the Ivy League title with wins over Yale and Brown last weekend, the Penn volleyball team travelled to Princeton last night to complete its Ivy season.

Sheer pride was the Quakers only motivation, as they had already secured an NCAA tournament berth.

And yet pride was enough as Penn (22-4 overall, 13-1 Ivy League) defeated Princeton (17-6, 10-4 ), 3-1.

Last night's victory was the second time the Quakers had defeated Princeton this season. Penn posted a similar 3-1 victory at the Palestra on Oct. 4.

The Red and Blue's triumph also snapped the Tigers six-match winning streak.

The Quakers were led last night by the strong play of Ivy League MVP candidate Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan -- who is also a Daily Pennsylvanian General Assignments Reporter.

Kwak-Hefferan recorded 19 kills and 15 digs, while senior co-captain Stacey Carter ended her Ivy career with 15 kills and 16 digs.

Freshman Cara Thomason capped off her highly successful rookie season with nine kills and 18 digs.

Junior Heather Janssen continued her strong play with 14 kills, and fellow third-year Meghan Schloat notched 56 assists.

After winning the first two games, 30-22 and 30-23, respectively, the Quakers withstood a late surge from the Tigers to win the fourth and final game, 31-29.

Though Penn's 57 kills sparked its victory, its defense was ultimately the key element in propelling the Quakers to their 11th-straight Ivy win.

While the Red and Blue had difficulty stopping Princeton's freshman phenom Lauren Grumet -- the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the week of Nov. 12 -- they did limit the Tigers to a hitting percentage which was well below their season average.

Princeton hit .166 last night down from its usual .254.

With the win over Princeton, Penn will now prepare for the NCAA tournament.

But because the NCAA seedings will not be announced until Dec. 1, Penn will practice for the next 10 days without a scouting report to follow.

But if the regular season is any indication, the Quakers should be more than ready for their tournament opponent.

With its second-straight Ivy League championship in as many years, the Red and Blue may not be content with just an NCAA berth.

After all, Penn finished this season with two more Ivy wins -- 13 to 11 -- than it did in last year's title run.

For such reasons, the Quakers hope that the NCAA tourney is also a site of greater success.

Last year, Penn put up a valiant effort in falling to UCLA in the first round of the NCAAs.

Though Penn was shutout, 3-0, the Quakers did manage to keep every game close, scoring at least 23 points in each of the games.

But with an arguably more dominant team this season, the Quakers are hoping for more than just a good showing.

They want to win.

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