In their three seasons suiting up for the Red and Blue, Carrie Biemer and the three other seniors on the Penn basketball team have gone undefeated. In season openers, that is. "We have a good record going into first games," the senior forward said. "We'll come out with a lot of energy, and we'll see if we can go 4-0.

For freshman point guard Zack Rosen, sometimes it pays to look old beyond his years. And it has nothing to do with getting into Smokes'. "He's well ahead of his age and his class, as far as his execution on the floor," Penn coach Glen Miller said. In truth, leadership - not a good jumpshot or a soft touch at the foul line - may be Rosen's quickest way to extended playing time.

The Palestra - the hallowed "Cathedral of College Basketball" - has played host to more NCAA tournament games than any other arena. Yet no Ivy League school has haunted Division I basketball's own holy ground, the NCAA Final Four, since the Quakers' Dream Team of 1979, the second-round David to North Carolina's No.

After a disappointing home loss to Princeton to open their final Ivy League season, volleyball senior co-captains Kathryn Turner and Steph Gwin decided to take a more active leadership approach. Becoming more vocal and demanding in practice didn't produce immediate results, as the team went on to drop two of its next three matches.

As the Penn men's basketball team ran onto the court for its first-round play-in game of the 1979 NCAA Tournament, the Quakers noticed something a bit strange. Banners of each tournament team competing in Raleigh, N.C., were displayed throughout Reynolds Coliseum, save the banner for Penn.

Penn volleyball had its seven-game win streak snapped by Yale in a five-set thriller at the Palestra Friday night. The loss ended the Quakers' hopes to claim a share of the Ivy League title. Yale junior outside hitter Cat Dailey got the Bulldogs started with a kill on the first play of the match, and freshman middle blocker Taylor Cramm followed that up with a block of Penn kills leader Julia Swanson.

With three Big 5 squads making it to the NCAA Tournament, last season was a banner year for the informal Philly conference. Temple and Saint Joseph's both fell in the first round, to Michigan State and Oklahoma State, respectively. But No. 12-seeded Villanova upset Clemson in the first round and won another over No.

It wasn't the blowout that it has been the past two years, but a Tyler Hansbrough-less North Carolina team beat the Quakers in their season-opener, 86-71, last night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Penn sophomore Tyler Bernardini picked up where he left off last year, leading all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting.

Torn labrum. Broken hand. Broken toe. Fill-in-the-blank hip. Fill-in-the-blank foot. These are just some of the injuries beleaguering Penn's swimming teams. But the Quakers will have to rebound quickly, as the men travel to Columbia for a 7 p.m. meet today, and the women host the Lions on Sunday at 2 p.

In 2005-06, it was Eric Osmundson. In 2006-07, it was Ibrahim Jaaber. Last year, it was Brian Grandieri. For the last three seasons, the Quakers have had a clear floor general and locker room presence, a leader both on and off the court. But this year, with five seniors - Kevin Egee, Cam Lewis, Aron Cohen, Brennan Votel and Tommy McMahon - on the Red and Blue's roster, it is unclear who will step into the captain's shoes.

Tomorrow is all about a second chance. When the Penn football team lost to Brown, 34-27, on Homecoming two Saturdays ago, the Quakers needed some help if they wanted to win an Ivy League title. But with Brown's 13-3 loss to Yale on Saturday and Penn's 14-9 victory over Princeton on Friday, the Quakers (5-3, 4-1 Ivy) find themselves tied with the Bears atop the league standings.

Last year: North Carolina 106, Penn 71. Year before: North Carolina 102, Penn 64. Things that have changed between then and now: not much. As Penn heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a date tomorrow with the first-ever unanimous preseason No. 1, for the final game of this three-year set with the Tar Heels, is there anything left to say except yikes? True, the Quakers have traveled this road twice before and have briefly put on a good show each time, but their problems are compounded this time.

Thirty-seven years ago, Disney World had just opened and Richard Nixon's approval ratings were over 50 percent. But 1971 was also the last time that the Penn men's soccer team hosted an all-or-nothing game for the Ivy League title. Fast forward: Coach Rudy Fuller and the Quakers (10-2-4, 4-1-1 Ivy) are trying to win the program's first conference title since 2002 this Saturday at 7:30 p.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to watch three different Penn teams - football, men's soccer and women's soccer - compete against rival Princeton. And in New Jersey, no less. I was able to accomplish this Quakers trifecta because of one of the more under-appreciated quirks of the Ivy League, something called "jamboree weekends.

Though its season hasn't even started yet, the men's swimming team is already plagued by injuries. Senior Steve Martucci underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum last month, and on Tuesday, senior Chaz Maul broke his hand. Freshman diver Jeff Cragg is nursing a broken toe, but with two of his four elder statesmen down, coach Mike Schnur has been forced to rely on more of his younger swimmers.

This is what March Madness clip reels are made of, what Dickie V likes to think about before launching into his trademark "slippaaa still fits!" routine. An undersized, undermanned challenger taking it to the major conference power with future NBA talent on its sideline? Ivy League teams weren't supposed to do this anymore, not in 2006.