This weekend, the Penn volleyball team will hope that home-court advantage, as well as aggressive hitting and solid defense, can help it win two games after last weekend's two road losses.
Both Harvard (9-10, 3-5 Ivy) and Dartmouth (10-8, 4-4) come to town as the Quakers try to improve on their seventh-place standing in the Ivy League.
But despite their losing record in conference play, the Quakers (7-11, 2-5) have a home mark of 5-3, and there seems to be a jinx on opposing teams coming to the Palestra.
"A lot of other teams feel the Palestra has a curse on them," sophomore middle blocker Kathryn Turner said.
Curses aside, playing at home also has more practical benefits.
"It's so much better to play at home," Turner said. "This is where we practice, this is where our friends are, and driving so far always makes it hard, so we don't have to worry about that."
Despite their middle-of-the-pack fourth- and sixth-place respective standings, beating both Dartmouth and Harvard won't be easy.
"Both teams are excellent," junior outside hitter Anna Shlimak said. "We're ready to come out and play two solid tough games."
Since Harvard's strength is defense, the Quakers will focus on attacking complemented with good defensive play.
"If everyone hits aggressively and plays solid defense, we'll have a solid chance at winning," Shlimak said.
For Dartmouth, the Quakers will work on defending the Big Green's most oft-used move: the tip.
"We're going to focus more on our defense [against Dartmouth], and picking up their tips," Shlimak said.
In addition to focusing on their opponents' strategy, the Quakers still work on their own game.
"We're focusing on ourselves as well as the other teams," Turner said. "We're making sure we get our own jobs done."
When they last played the Crimson on Oct. 6 in Cambridge, Mass., the Quakers came back from a
2-1 deficit to win 3-2 in a defensive struggle. The win remains the Quakers' only road Ivy victory so far.
The next day, the Red and Blue had tough luck in Hanover, N.H., losing three close games to Dartmouth. The combined margin of defeat was 14 points.
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