Facing Princeton this past Friday, the Penn volleyball team got a chance to assess the tremendous talent it would be facing in the Ivy League this season.
The problem was, the Quakers did it the hard way, losing the match to the Tigers, 3-1.
The Quakers stayed tough throughout the first two games before falling, 32-30, and then 33-31. Their blocking was solid, but was not enough to thwart the Tigers' aggressive play.
Penn freshman Laura Black, recently named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, recognized her team's ability to play the points out all the way and make the Tigers work hard to the end.
"At times we were not expecting to hit the ball back," Black said. "But then we would find a way to kill the ball and get the point."
Penn also found a way to gain an edge on the Tigers, adapting to their style of play. The Red and Blue finally started to block Princeton's outside hitters and exploit the Tigers' offense.
Their adjustments paid off in the third game, which was also very close in score but went to the Quakers this time, 31-29. Unfortunately, Penn was not able to carry that momentum into the fourth and final game.
Penn was not able to keep the last game quite as close as the previous three, as it went down 30-25. The Quakers' on-the-fly adjustments to Princeton's strengths were effective, but not enough to spur a rally from behind.
Black described the Quakers' efforts as "too little, too late."
Like her teammate, Penn junior Michelle Kauffman believes that Penn's hard work determined the nail-biting end results of each game.
"The games were really tight, all of them over 30 points," Kauffman said. "So I think that if we just push a little bit harder, next time we should come out on top."
The Quakers should expect the outcome of many of their upcoming Ivy League matches to be determined by a measure of hard work. Kauffman noted that a lot of the other Ivy teams would pose a tough challenge, echoing her teammate's assertion.
Black believes that "the Ivy League champions this year will not be undefeated" in the league.
Despite reviewing a scouting report of the Tigers beforehand, Black was still unsure of exactly what to expect in her first Ivy matchup. The Irvine, Calif., native was surprised by the level at which Princeton performed.
"They dug a lot of our hard hits that usually would be kills against a lot of other teams," Black said.
In upcoming practices, the Quakers will surely work on expecting the unexpected. By focusing on aspects of the game that are solely under their control, such as serving, the Quakers hope to eliminate their own mistakes and counter anything their opponents send their way.
