With the 1977 and 2002 Penn championship teams in town to be honored for their past achievements, the current Penn volleyball team gave the alumnae plenty to smile about.
Friday, the Quakers swept Cornell, the defending champions, (30-28, 30-24, 30-26) and Columbia (30-9, 30-21, 30-21). At times Penn played down to the level of its opponents, but still managed to impress by putting together some dominant stretches of play.
"It's great to beat the Ivy League champs," said coach Kerry Carr of her team's win over Cornell. "We had to go out and prove something."
Senior Laura Black and junior Kathryn Turner led the Quakers' assault with 13 and nine kills respectively, while senior Anna Shlimak and freshman Julia Swanson added four kills apiece.
"We hung in there against a pretty good team," Cornell coach Deitre Collins-Parker said. The Big Red lost 10 starters over the past two seasons, but their coach sees them improving dramatically as the season goes on.
"We're young, but we're getting better," she said.
On Saturday, the Quakers continued their winning ways against a Columbia team that looked thoroughly outmatched.
The first game saw a stretch of 12 consecutive points by the Quakers en route to a 30-9 win. It seemed to send the Lions licking their wounds for the rest of the afternoon, as they lost the next two games 30-21 apiece.
Again, it was Turner leading the way for the Quakers with 17 kills for the match.
"We were inconsistent," Columbia coach Brie Katz said. "I would have hoped we would come out stronger."
"This was a much more solid win," said Carr of her team's second victory. "We executed our game plan, no matter what the other team tried to do," she said.
"That was a great confidence booster for us," Penn's Black said. "I think overall there was a difference in energy and attitude."
The motivation may have come, in part, from the past League championship teams who were honored at halftime of the Columbia game. During the break, members from both teams walked to center court, were Carr presented them with scarves adorned with the University Logo.
The action gets underway for the Quakers again Friday night as they host Brown at 7 p.m. and on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Yale.
Both games will be played at the Palestra.
