After weeks of blocks, kills and digs, only one obstacle stands between Penn volleyball and its Ivy League competition.
In a final tune-up before the Ivy opener at Princeton on Saturday, the Quakers (5-5) begin their non-tournament schedule today at Villanova (9-5), hoping to avenge consecutive 3-0 losses to their crosstown foe from the Big East.
"They're a big team, a blocking team," coach Kerry Carr said. "They should be a better team on paper, but defensively, we are better than them. I think having the added offense and beefing up our defense this year, we should match up very well against them."
Senior Laura Black thinks year's team is up to the task, as well.
"I think we're just stronger all-around this year," she said. "Everyone is ready to come off the bench and contribute."
The Quakers will look to build off the momentum of their first win over Temple in ten years. In addition to the senior leadership of veterans like Black, the Quakers will need to rely heavily on their emerging throng of underclassmen, which has made major contributions in the early season tournament play.
Freshman Laura Swanson is tied for the team lead with 105 kills, while Madison Wojciechowski has recorded 159 digs thus far in her opening campaign.
"We have a couple of things that we're focusing on specifically to beat Villanova, and I think we're definitely capable," Wojciechowski said. "We've been working a lot on our different defenses and communication, and on tough serving and passing."
Though Carr would love nothing more than to see her team execute its game plan tonight, she recognizes that this match is, above all, the final step in preparation for Ivy League play.
"If we play well and win [tonight], then we know exactly what we have to do to beat Princeton on Saturday," Carr said. "If we don't play well, we need to work hard on whatever we did wrong."
To Carr's players, the message is loud and clear.
"We're definitely looking at Villanova as preparation for playing Princeton on Saturday," Black said. "I don't think we're overlooking them at all, but we're really looking at it as strong preparation to get us ready for the Ivies."
Villanova welcomes Penn on the heels of a three-set loss to No. 21 St. John's last Sunday, the team's first Big East defeat of the season.
Prior to that, the Wildcats had won six of their last seven contests overall, though they did fall in five sets to Princeton earlier this season. Small condolence for the Quakers.
