PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 29 - The Quakers overcame deficits, questionable calls and brilliant play by the Tigers to force a fifth and deciding game.
But in the end, the ball just wouldn't bounce the Penn volleyball team's way.
Princeton took the five-game thriller 26-30, 33-31, 30-16, 34-36, 15-11. The 105 people in attendance for the Ivy-League opener witnessed a back-and-forth contest that kept fans in Dillon Gym engrossed from start to finish.
"I've gotta get some distance from it," said coach Kerry Carr, frustrated that her team let such a close match slip by. She added that she believed the difference between the teams right now is experience.
"Princeton didn't make mistakes," she said.
A 10-1 deficit to start game one threatened to send Penn (6-6, 0-1) home early. But it staged a furious rally to win the game 30-26.
After the Quakers jumped out to an 8-4 lead in game two, it was Princeton (8-3, 1-0) who looked as if it might fold. But the Tigers, led by the outstanding play of junior Parker Henritze (29 kills total), came back to win a hotly-contested 33-31 game.
"I thought after we won the first game we started to relax," said Quakers freshman Julia Swanson, who led the Quakers with 27 kills.
Game three was never in doubt. The Tigers won handily 30-16 and looked to close out the match in four games. But Swanson and freshman Megan Tryon helped lift the Quakers in a 36-34 slugfest, thus forcing a fifth and deciding game.
"They have a fight in them," Carr said of her team.
The Quakers managed some heroics in game five, fighting to within a point at 8-7 and staving off several match-ending kill attempts by Henritze before succumbing 15-11.
The Princeton victory was under some initial doubt, since it appeared that the referee closest to the play called the point for the Quakers, which would have made the game 14-12.
But after what looked to be a brief deliberation, the point was awarded to Princeton and the Tigers celebrated a tough-fought match that they knew could have gone either way.
"I think we played well in tight situations," Princeton assistant coach Sabrina King said. "I think their youth hurt them a little bit."
"Any time you have to play five games you really have to rely on the depth of your team," added Henritze. Her team had nine players playing in four games or more, compared to seven for Penn.
The Quakers will resume play on Friday at home against Cornell. Carr knows that though her team is young, their upside for the season depends on how sharp the learning curve is, and how fast they develop.
"We're going to build off this loss for the future," she said.
