At 5-foot-5, two inches shorter than her next-smallest teammate and half a foot shorter than most of the Quakers, Madison Wojciechowski has an atypical frame for a quarterback.
She stands out even more on the floor of the Palestra, when she sports a multi-colored getup that contrasts sharply with her teammates' plain uniforms.
Wojciechowski, like most liberos, didn't sprout to over six feet in high school but still found her way into Division I - and into Penn's rotation in her first year.
Her position is unique. Liberos are barred from attacking the ball when it is entirely above the net and can set the ball only under special circumstances.
But the libero also functions as a defensive specialist - "the quarterback of the defense, where[as] the setter is the quarterback of the offense," Penn assistant coach Jen Randall said.
Randall herself started off as an outside hitter but converted to libero once she started playing for Georgia Tech.
The NCAA waited until 2002 to introduce the libero into the college game; the position was adopted internationally in 1998. Terry Pettit, the rules committee chairman, said at the time that "the adoption of the libero will add a new element of excitement to the game, raise the level of play and has the potential to create opportunities for the smaller athlete."
Liberos also function under liberal substitution rules. They cannot be in the starting lineup, but they may immediately replace - not substitute for - another player. The libero herself may then be replaced and re-inserted later, although she must re-enter for the player she originally replaced. Liberos are typically on the court for the vast majority of the time, and they are required to dress differently.
"It just stops our momentum sometimes" when the team's biggest force on defense is out, Randall said. "The other team will hit and it will be like - bam. No run for us."
The relative youth of the rule change means that some levels of volleyball have different interpretations of it than others, which can be challenging for a young libero.
"In high school and in club, the liberos don't serve, so that was just one adjustment," Wojciechowski said.
Even so, the position has shifted the prevailing notions of what makes a good player.
"It's helping the game because it's [emphasizing] ball control the whole time, where one person can focus on that," Randall said. "It's making defense more important and making people who know defense stick out."
Wojciechowski has known defense since roughly her sophomore year of high school, when she switched spots and found herself in demand. She couldn't jump as high, but she could yell just as loud.
"I can see everything, so I have to be vocal," she said.
"Some people, like Madison, [are] born to be a libero, where others, like myself, become that," Randall said.
It might have been necessity that caused her to become a libero, but Penn's quarterback on defense is a valuable commodity. Players like her might stick out even more in the future.
