Volleyball | Quakers 'Dig Pink,' think Carr

The women's volleyball team had scheduled its "Dig Pink" breast cancer awareness promotion before the start of the season. But with coach Kerry Carr's recent breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent mastectomy, tonight's home match against Dartmouth takes on a whole new significance.

The Quakers (6-11, 2-3 Ivy) plan to wear pink paraphernalia, from warm-up shirts to shoelaces, all the while keeping their coach's condition near to their hearts.

"It is a good way to keep in mind what our team has been handed," said sophomore Madison Wojciechowski, who will be sporting a pink libero jersey donated by Mizuno.

With all the commotion, the Quakers also have to keep in mind the Big Green (6-10, 2-4) and Harvard (8-10, 3-3), who they host tonight and tomorrow, respectively.

Dartmouth is led by sophomore Kelsey Johnson, who's third in the league in serving aces and was named to the All-Tournament team during the Dartmouth Invitational earlier in the season.

Still, tight-lipped acting coach Ryan Goodwin wouldn't reveal if there were any Big Green players he was watching.

"Oh, that's secrets," he said. "You'll see after the match."

Overall, the two squads line up pretty evenly. But Dartmouth has distinct advantage in blocks and serving aces -- categories in which Penn is last in the Ancient Eight - as well as digs.

The Red and Blue are looking to establish the middle of their court, and in turn, their passing game. According to Goodwin, mid-blockers Kat Turner and Ashley Hawkins are "primed and ready for a great weekend."

"There isn't a team that is necessarily better than us in the Ivy league," said Wojciechowski, although the Quakers sit in fifth place.

"We are just beating ourselves a lot."

Indeed, the Quakers said they tend to do worse when they focus on their opponents.

"We are the reasons why we win or lose," said sophomore Julia Swanson, who leads the Quakers and is fourth in the league with 210 kills.

As if worrying about themselves and Dartmouth isn't enough, the Quakers have to face Harvard tomorrow.

The Crimson are fourth in the Ivy League, but feature a pair of threatening players in freshmen Anne Ingersoll and Sandra Fryhofer, who are second and fifth in the Ivy League in hitting percentage, at .383 and .273, respectively.

That said, Swanson knows that the key to winning for the Quakers will be playing well rather than trying to shut down Dartmouth and Harvard.

"It's not the opponent on the other side of the net," she said. "We are just going to do what we need to do to get a 'W.'"

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