Penn women's volleyball junior Elizabeth Semmens has never tasted victory against Princeton. In fact, last season, she had to swallow two bitter losses to the Tigers that were ultimately the difference between first and second place in the Ivy League.
"They are big rivals," Semmens said. "It is time to beat them."
Tomorrow, the Quakers have a chance to do just that, as they open their Ivy League slate at home.
A victory for Penn is possible, but it won't be an easy task; Princeton (6-2) returns all but one starter from its undefeated Ivy team.
The Quakers have been preparing feverishly for this match, especially through their tough non-conference schedule in which they went 4-8.
Last weekend, Penn traveled to California for three matches against University of San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Mary's. Despite taking 2-0 leads in the first two, the Red and Blue disappointingly lost all three contests, 3-2, 3-2 and 3-0.
"We played some very tough teams," senior team captain, Kathryn Turner said of the Quakers' West Coast swing. "We're in a good position playing harder teams to start."
Coach Kerry Carr has been playing around with the lineup lately, trying to find the strongest combination of players.
"I know that we have a ton of different strengths," Carr said. "When we put them all together, we're very dangerous."
She added that the team has been working on different sets for different people, hoping to deploy this versatility to her advantage.
Too much experimenting, however, can have a negative effect. By constantly changing outside hitters, the timing of the whole offense changes as well, which could cause problems.
The Quakers have also been focusing on blocking recently and are confident that their non-conference struggles at the net are behind them.
"I know that we could be the same blocking team that we were last year," Turner said.
Should the match go to four or five sets, the Quakers believe they'll have the advantage.
"We have been working very hard both on and off the court," Semmens said. "Playing in long games in the early part of the season has definitely made us stronger."
But in the end, Carr is going in with no expectations.
"I dont care who's stronger on paper," she said. "When it's Penn vs. Princeton, anything can happen."
