The women's volleyball team won only one match out of thee this weekend at the Albany Tournament.
Nevertheless, coach Kerry Carr and the Quakers came home with experience, improved confidence and a positive outlook for the rest of the season.
Penn lost both ends of a doubleheader on Friday. They were downed 3-0 by Ohio University (8-1) in the morning and then 3-1 by Albany (5-1) in the evening.
Unfazed, the Quakers came back strong on Saturday to defeat Iona (0-6) 3-1.
Carr entered the weekend in Albany with no expectations, so she had only optimistic thoughts after the tournament was over.
"My expectations for the weekend were always held in check," Carr said. "I had never seen the team perform."
Beginning the weekend with such perspective allowed Carr to assess the team from the perspective of weaknesses and strengths rather than wins and losses.
"We went there with the idea that we had a lot to learn," Carr said.
Cara Thomason, a senior captain on the team, emphasized the blank-slate philosophy as well.
"I thought we had a really good opening weekend for our team," Thompson said. "We had a really high learning curve."
Carr praised the progress that was made individually and as a team in the short span of a weekend.
For example, the Quakers improved upon the average of nine digs and 10 kills per game against Ohio to 21 digs and 16 kills per game against Iona.
Carr was impressed with the rapid progress of her team as well, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
It was in Game 2 against Albany that "we really started playing some great defense."
In that second match, the team began to play with less hesitancy. The liberos, in particular, played inspirationally, sacrificing their bodies across the court.
The liberos "fired us up, especially against a hard-hitting team like Albany," Carr said.
Carr was particularly thrilled that she had the opportunity to give all the players on the roster playing time over the weekend. In this way she was able to assess the chemistry of players on the floor.
That ability to play everyone "shows great depth," Carr said, "which is really exciting for the coach."
Perhaps the best sign from the weekend is that the Quakers got solid contribution from both experienced players and freshmen.
For example, freshman Kathryn Turner had the most kills on the team for the weekend, with 28.
She was a "great surprise for us, she worked really hard," Carr said.
At the same time, the presence of senior captains Michelle Kauffman and Thomason was definitely felt on the court.
And all of these factors made the weekend worthwhile.
"I didn't have any disappointments," Carr said.
PENN 23 16 25 -- 0Ohio 30 30 30 -- 3
PENN 27 30 22 26 -- 1 Albany 30 27 30 30 -- 3
PENN 33 30 24 30 -- 3Iona 31 24 30 26 -- 1
