No margin for Volleyball to 'shrivel'

This week in practice, the volleyball team pitted its starters against the reserves, with the former challenged to win the set down 20-17.

"We couldn't get it for the first five times, and then they started to shrivel like they did against Princeton," coach Kerry Carr said. "So we taught them how to deal with that."

The Quakers' focus on handling adversity should prove valuable this weekend when they hit the road for their first Ivy away matches. They take on Cornell (3-8, 2-0 Ivy) tonight in Ithaca, N.Y., before bussing it to the Big Apple to face Columbia (5-6, 0-2) tomorrow.

The emphasis on tenacity was part of an overall attitude change that Carr felt was necessary after last weekend's crushing three-set loss to Princeton.

"I think it was one of those ideas that we had to kick their butts in practice this week," Carr said. "But they wanted it, too."

Team co-captains Kathryn Turner and Stephanie Gwin ensured that. The pair made a concerted effort to go outside their comfort zone and be more vocal in practice.

"It's not really in our personalities to yell at people too much," Gwin said. "We're certainly not screaming at people all the time, but we're tougher on them."

By the end of the week, Carr liked her squad's mentality and credited her captains for the change.

"If they didn't step up, this week would've been a lot harder on the team and it would've been a lot harder on the coaching staff," Carr said. "Finally, they were like 'This is not acceptable,' and to have people from within say that makes things easier."

The Quakers cannot afford to remain unfocused. According to Carr, home court advantage is worth five points.

"The way I look at it is that we're playing to 30 and they're playing to 25," she said.

The Big Red have two of the top defensive players in the Ivy League. Libero Megan Mushovic ranks sixth nationally with 5.7 digs per set, while middle blocker Kelly Hansen tops the league with 1.2 blocks per set.

Columbia does not have the defensive studs of Cornell, but senior outside hitter Amalia Viti leads the Ivies with 176 kills. Yet Columbia's next best option, freshman outside hitter Megan Dillinger, has just 54 kills. This lack of balance could pose problems for the Lions.

"It's really critical that the other starters play well and allow us to present some type of a balanced attack," Columbia head coach Jon Wilson said. "Then there will be enough room in the defense for Amalia to do what she needs to do."

Gwin, who played club volleyball with Viti in high school, insists the team knows how to handle her strong swings.

"I know we can beat both of these teams," Gwin said.

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