Turn-ing the page of Volleyball career

When senior co-captain Kathryn Turner entered Princeton's Dillon Gym for her last career match, she sensed an unfamiliar atmosphere.

"It was quieter than that gym has been in my biggest games there, which I was a little bit shocked by," she said.

Turner capitalized on the calm, putting together one of her best matches of the season. She led the team with 16 kills on a season-high .565 hitting, while adding four block assists and one solo block.

But her efforts were not enough for the Quakers, who once again felt the Tigers' wrath, losing, 3-1.

Princeton (18-4, 12-2 Ivy) has now won seven straight matches over Penn.

Turner owes much of her success to sophomore setter Megan Tryon. Despite her teammates' passing struggles, Tryon did all she could to bring about a victory.

"She was on the run the whole night and she was still able to generate 49 assists, which is extremely good," acting coach Ryan Goodwin said.

But Goodwin identified Turner as the star of the match.

"She has the type of personality where she rises to the occasion," Goodwin said. "She's always equal to the moment, and she obviously was tonight. For most of the match, she was the best player on the floor."

Turner notched 15 of her kills in the first three sets, including five in an intense 29-27 first-set win. But poor passing caught up to the Quakers (13-13, 9-5), and Turner managed only one in the fourth.

"We knew that she was the hot hitter and that she was the one we wanted to get the ball to," Goodwin said. "But we just couldn't do it."

Realizing her Penn volleyball career had come to an end with a loss to Princeton, Turner felt understandably sad. But she tried to put this year in perspective.

"I'm happy because this season could've gone a lot differently, a lot worse in a lot of ways," she said. "Ryan said to us at one point during the season 'You play the hand you're dealt,' and this season we weren't dealt the best hand."

The team had to play through most of the Ivy season with its head coach, Kerry Carr, recovering from a mastectomy (although the Quakers were 8-3 without her).

Still, Turner is walking away with plenty of positive memories. In her freshman year, the Quakers beat a Cornell squad that had been undefeated, and this year they delivered the only conference loss for Ivy League Champion Yale.

"We beat the best in the league and we realized that we were good and we could beat anyone in the Ivy League," she said. "That's something that will be in the record books forever."

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