The Good, the Bad & Ugly: Penn volleyball at Princeton

Our GB&U for the Quakers' five-set loss at Princeton Friday:

THE GOOD: A strong start

The Quakers started strong in the first set going on a four point rally to take the lead (7-4) keeping Princeton at arms length throughout the game, and closing the set with a five point run winning the set 25-21. Penn was able to find a rhythm early on, the Red and Blue only committed two attack errors in the first set. They finished the match with a .455 team total attack percentage, which is an improvement on their most recent matches.

THE BAD: The Tigers' four-point run

The Quakers found themselves fighting to stay alive after losing sets two and three. By the time of the deciding fifth set, it seemed as though the Red and Blue were tired from playing catch up and appeared to be a half step too slow in the fifth. Tying the game at 11 in a set to 15, the Quakers were felled by a Tigers four-point run, losing the set, 15-11, and the match, 3-2, seeing their record for the season fall to 5-6, 0-1 Ivy.

THE UGLY: Five-set disappointment

For the battle-tested Quakers, this marked their sixth five-set match. The Quakers are actually 4-2 in these matches. But this weekend proved that those five-set matches are unsustainable. If the Red and Blue hope to win the Ivy League, they have to keep their foot on the gas and find a way to get the 'W' without dragging the game into five sets.

-Titus Adkins