The Penn volleyball team delivered two exciting games to fans during Parents Weekend, taking both Brown and Yale in five games. On Friday night, the Quakers clinched a win over the Bears, 3-2, by winning the decisive fifth game. "Our offense was off, so it was a defensive battle," Penn coach Kerry Carr said.
Although Penn (11-9, 4-5 Ivy) won the first and third games against Brown, 30-24 and 30-26, respectively, the offense was inconsistent throughout the match.
In the second game, which the Quakers lost, 30-21, the team combined for a .040 hitting percentage. In contrast, the team earned a .438 hitting percentage in the opening game.
In the fifth and deciding game, Penn and Brown fought hard until the very end. The Red and Blue fell behind, 15-14, presenting a game-point situation for the Bears (7-13, 4-5). But Penn senior Lynzy Caton provided a crucial kill, and the Quakers eventually won, 17-15.
"We were focused and intense," Caton said. "We never gave up or let down.
"We went back to the scouting report to make a game plan. Everyone was involved."
Caton recorded 12 kills, while junior middle hitter Michelle Kauffman tallied 18. Senior Cara Thomason and freshman Anna Shlimak recorded 11 kills apiece.
Defensively, freshman Linda Zhang posted 59 assists and 23 digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Meredith Damore contributed 30 digs.
"We played inspiring defense in the fifth game," Carr said. "We went for things that seemed impossible. It was a total team effort."
After a grueling Friday night game, the Quakers returned to the Palestra Saturday afternoon for another five-game match, this time against Yale (10-7, 5-4).
The Red and Blue fought well in the first four games. They captured the first and third games, 30-25 and 30-24, but lost the second and fourth games, 30-28 and 30-27.
On Saturday, however, Penn lost momentum in the fifth game. The Quakers allowed Yale to gain a 9-1 lead early.
Penn called two timeouts to try to stop Yale's momentum.
"During the timeouts, we talked about mistakes," Thomason said. "We focused on how we could improve, especially in passing and serving."
The Los Angeles native tallied 14 kills and 22 digs in the match.
The Elis eventually captured the fifth game, 15-6, taking the overall match as well. The Red and Blue recorded only four kills and a .037 hitting percentage in the decisive fifth game.
"We should have won games two and four," Carr said. "We couldn't stop the right side attack.
"Compared to our last matchup with Yale, we blocked better and had a better defense."
Carr believes that service errors cost Penn in the end. The Quakers tallied 13 service errors compared to the Elis' three.
Kauffman set a new career-high 23 kills in the match. Freshman Laura Black tallied 13 kills and nine digs. Caton set a career-high with 5.5 blocks, while also contributing 10 kills.
The Quakers face Villanova tonight at 7 p.m. in the Palestra.
"Villanova is a tall blocking team," Carr said. "We need to work on serves and mental toughness."
