Going into this past weekend, the Penn volleyball team seemed to have a hard road ahead of them. Languishing in a four-match losing streak, it was in seventh place in the Ivy League, and mental mistakes appeared to plague the Quakers.
Nevertheless, Penn wasn't expecting anything less than two wins against Dartmouth and Harvard - and it got them both. The Quakers knocked off each team by a score of 3-2.
The Red and Blue (9-11, 4-5 Ivy) took on the Big Green (10-10, 4-6) Friday night at the Palestra, hoping to make up for an embarrassing 3-0 defeat earlier this year.
"We knew we could beat them. . We took them out of their game last time but didn't get enough kills," coach Kerry Carr said.
Clearly, something had changed from three weeks ago. The Red and Blue rode junior Laura Black and her season-high 22 kills en route to the 3-2 victory.
It was a back-and-forth contest, and Penn fell down 2-1 going into the fourth game.
"Our mentality was to never give up. That was really the key," Black said.
The Quakers also out-killed Dartmouth by a 73-64 margin and doubled their block tally, 14-7. Libero Liz Hurst led the team with 29 digs, a season-high for her. Junior Anna Shlimak and freshman Elizabeth Semmens both posted double-doubles in kills and digs along with Black.
The Palestra crowd on Saturday afternoon saw the Quakers take on the Harvard team (9-12, 3-7 Ivy) that they had already beaten 3-2 earlier this season.
Things were no different this time around, with Penn taking an easy and early 2-0 lead. Play was messy on both sides, but the Quakers were able to take advantage of the Crimson's multitude of mistakes.
But Harvard wasn't going down without a fight. Penn lost the third game looking sluggish and sloppy. And, in the fourth game, it seemed like the Red and Blue had the match wrapped up with a 19-10 lead. But a few mental mistakes by the Quakers allowed the Crimson to creep back in and mount a thrilling comeback, winning 30-28.
It was a demoralizing blow struck by Harvard.
But, in the fifth game, Penn cleaned up its game. According to Semmens, "We had to get our confidence back and work on our serve-receive. Once we did that, we dominated."
The decisive fifth game went the Quakers' way as they took the match, 3-2.
Again, the victory could be credited to strong team defense. Penn had 12 blocks to Harvard's paltry three, and Shlimak, Semmens and Black all posted double-doubles.
Last weekend has provided a silver lining for the Quakers. They've played well at the Palestra, and with two more home games next weekend against Brown and Yale, Penn is hoping for a successful end to their home season.
