Win or lose, the Penn volleyball team made sure that it was the loudest squad in the Palestra this weekend.
Full of strong team chemistry, spirit and confidence, the Quakers pulled out thrilling 3-1 wins over Harvard (3-11, 0-4 Ivy) on Friday and Dartmouth (9-5, 2-2) on Saturday.
Whether they were ahead or behind, the Quakers on the court and on the bench would cheer, clap, dance and do anything to convey a winning attitude.
"Team chemistry was our main strength this weekend," Penn coach Kerry Carr said. "It's not only the six or seven starters. I can bring anyone off the bench and there's an automatic connection with everyone on the court because they've been in the game the whole time.
"We're working on the mental aspect of the game. They've come up with some very innovative solutions: shaking things off, doing little dances and whatever gets their mind of the fact 'we're losing,' and I think that has really helped."
On Saturday, the Big Green took Game 1, 30-26. Coming into this weekend, Dartmouth had a nine-match winning streak. However, the Red and Blue (6-7, 3-0) kept upbeat and won the next three games for a 3-1 victory.
Penn's team chemistry and spirit proved essential in game four, which had 10 ties and four lead changes. At the end of the game, the Quakers were down, 29-25. Keeping their positive attitude and focus, the Quakers won the uphill battle after three errors by the Big Green and four kills by the Red and Blue.
"As a team, we've been focusing on really trying to be aggressive and energetic while at the same time being smart," senior captain Cara Thomason said. "We always try to play with the mentality that we're going to win the game no matter what. We can always come back or we can always increase our lead."
Saturday, Thomason reached a career mark of 1,332 digs, enough to break the Penn school record record of 1,313, held by Melissa Ingalls, who played from 1986-89. Thomason, sophomores Laura Black and Anna Shlimak and freshman Kathryn Turner each recorded double-digit kills against the Big Green. Sophomore Linda Zhang tallied 49 assists and 15 digs.
On Friday night, the Quakers beat the Crimson, 3-1. After taking the first game, Penn fell to Harvard in the second, 30-18. The third game was highly contested, with Penn eking out the victory, 30-28, thanks to a kill by Turner.
With the weekend wins, the Red and Blue ties Cornell for first place in Ivy League play, both with perfect 3-0 records. Next weekend, the Quakers travel to New York to face Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday.
"There's no break in the Ivies," Carr said.
"Columbia is a really good team. We have to push during every game because I know that when we're not playing well, any team can beat us but when we're playing well, no one can beat us."
Harvard 20 30 28 19 -- 1PENN 30 18 30 30 -- 3
Dartmouth 30 18 20 30 -- 1PENN 26 30 30 32 -- 3
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