If the Quakers hope to get past Ivy League volleyball heavyweights Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, they'll have to start to change a disturbing trend this season: Of their 10 wins, only two have come against teams that are .500 or better.
Even more telling is the overall records of the teams they've played. The seven teams they've lost to are a combined 91-48, while the teams they've beaten are a combined 89-131. Could the Quakers be classified as bullies?
If so, then Dartmouth and Harvard allow them the chance to pick on someone their own size.
"We're really excited, because it's our first big road trip in the conference," senior Anna Shlimak said. "In our conference, you never know who's gonna show up."
In the past five matches, the Quakers have cruised against the likes of Cornell, Brown and Columbia - not losing a game - until falling 3-0 to Yale last Saturday.
They did recapture their stride, though, by sweeping a 9-17 La Salle squad, 3-0, on Tuesday. Coach Kerry Carr sees the weekend as a chance to get some quality wins against the always tough Ivy League competition.
"There are four or five really strong teams in this League," Carr said. "No one has gone 14-0."
Tonight at 5 p.m., the Quakers face a 12-4 Dartmouth team that just dropped a close 3-2 match to Cornell.
Saturday, Penn faces off at 2 p.m. against Harvard, which now stands at 7-11 after sweeping Columbia over the weekend.
"We've been training hard for both teams this week," senior Laura Black said. "We don't want to have that same feeling we felt against Yale."
Coach Carr knows that if her team expects to make a run for the Ivy League crown, something they're still very much in contention for, it has to compete better with the top teams in the League.
"We have the talent and the energy," Carr said, "We just need more consistency."
When asked about her chances to make up some valuable ground on the League leaders, Carr put on a prognosticating cap.
"I think you'll see that nothing is decided until the very last weekend of the season," she said.
She may find out this weekend whether her team will fit into that mix.
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