Before the season began, Penn women's basketball coach Pat Knapp said that somebody would step up on offense to replace the scoring void left after the Quakers graduated their top three scorers last year. After chipping in 46 points in the team's two games this season, that person appears to be Carrie Biemer.

With the Ivy League trophy already on its mantle, the Penn women's soccer team is ready for its close-up on the national stage. The Quakers' second season begins this afternoon in Morgantown, W. Va., where the Red and Blue will take on James Madison of the Colonial Athletic Association in the first round of the NCAA College Cup.

Some things have changed from last year. Others stayed the same. Just like last year, the path to the Ivy League title won't run through Philadelphia. But unlike last season's muddied title-sharing between Yale and Princeton, this year's Ivy championship race will produce an unambiguous winner by Saturday evening.

There are no Ivy League title implications. There are no personal vendettas. There are no record-chasers and no storylines. But there is pride. Neither Penn nor Cornell will be playing for much when the Big Red come to Franklin Field tomorrow. Both teams sit at 2-4, tied for fifth place and a far cry from relevance in the Ancient Eight.

One year removed from a No. 5 final ranking, the Quakers enter this season looking for similar achievements. "It adds a little more pressure," coach Craig Thorpe-Clark said. "Excellence is no longer hoped for; it is expected." Still, there are many questions entering the season.

With the volleyball team's second-place finish in the Ivy League already secured, the Quakers fell, 3-1, to champions Princeton last night. For the Tigers, it was the final win in an undefeated Ivy League season. The Quakers' four seniors will graduate without an Ivy League title, but even they never expected to ever come this close to the trophy.

As third-year Howard coach Gil Jackson goes up against his former team this weekend, even he may be surprised at how soon his return to the Palestra has come. The 16-year Penn assistant coach, who came to the program with Fran Dunphy in 1989, won nine Ivy championships and left for the Bison's head job after the 2004-05 season.

The Penn women's squash team got a whiff of success last season - now it's hungry for more. With seven of nine starters returning, the Quakers will combine talent and experience in an attempt to navigate the difficult Ivy League schedule. Co-captain Lauralynn Drury knows an arduous task lies ahead.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I just can't let this one go. What I saw Friday at the beginning of Penn's season opener was just embarrassing. And I'm not talking about what we all (or, some of us) saw on the court, where the Quakers stumbled their way to 24 points in the first half - shooting 31 percent from the field, 25 percent from distance and 42.

Dreams for another Ivy title for the men's basketball team took a hit yesterday when results came back on guard Darren Smith's knee injury. The sophomore, who took a knock on the kneecap early in the first half Friday against Drexel, will miss the remainder of this season with a fractured right patella.

One team stands in the way of Princeton going undefeated in Ivy League play this season: the Quakers. Although the League title is out of its reach, Penn's volleyball team (17-8, 10-3) still has plenty to play for tonight when it hosts Princeton in its season finale at 7 p.m. at the Palestra.

Don't be surprised if you see some extra bodies in the stands at Penn sporting events next semester. And don't be surprised if those bodies look athletic enough to be in the game, themselves. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee plans to kick off Quaker Days, an initiative to strengthen attendance at sporting events by drawing other athletes to games.

It wasn't a smooth transition from the field to the sidelines.Former Penn wide receiver Matt Carre's first season as a coach was rough. But even after starting the season 0-9, Carre tried to stay positive as he took the field as King's College intern assistant coach for the team's final game of the year last Saturday.

Rafael Nadal, consider yourself challenged. Nadal may be the best in the world on clay, but Barney Tanfield, the assistant pro at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia on 16th Street, thinks he might have a harder time on the unforgiving slate of court tennis.

The annual Harvard-Yale rivalry to end the football season is so old that it's known simply as "The Game." But since Yale and Harvard both kept their perfect league records intact last Saturday, the stage is set for the biggest Game in decades. On Saturday, the rivals will face off for the League championship at the Yale Bowl in an atmosphere that should be as bowl-like as one could find in the Football Championship Subdivision.

The rebuilding process has officially begun, and it sure isn't pretty. In fact, the first several weeks of this season could get very ugly, especially when the Tar Heels come to town. But I'm not ready to write the Quakers off just yet. Since the men's basketball team has enjoyed so much success over the past several years, the Penn faithful has almost started to take winning Ivy titles and getting to the NCAA tournament for granted.

After a six-year absence from the NCAA College Cup, what was another half hour of waiting? Crammed into the men's basketball locker room at the Palestra, the Penn women's soccer team gathered in front of a television to find out its NCAA College Cup matchup and location on ESPNews' selection show at 8 p.m. last night.