Quarterback Billy Ragone led a late comeback as Penn extended its Ivy League win streak to 16 games.

Casual volleyball fans and players tend to focus on the high-flying jumpers and fast-paced kills, but on coach Kerry Carr’s team, the focus has always been singular: defense.

Even after Jerome Allen reeled in seven intriguing recruits, the glaring need for a legitimate big man remained. That changed Thursday.

With a month already gone, we break down the contenders and pretenders for the men’s soccer season.

Entering tonight’s Ivy League home opener, Penn has not dropped a game to Cornell since 1995. During their last seven meetings, the Quakers have outscored the Big Red 18-1.

With a 15-game Ivy League win streak on the line, Penn heads to Dartmouth to play the first-ever night game in the 89-year history of Memorial Field — on national television.

While Kovach thrives on her “one day at a time” approach, she and Boldon hope to eventually help her train, and perhaps qualify, for the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Fink has had a rough one-and-a-half seasons as head coach, but when it comes to overtime, she is a perfect 3-0.

Come Jan. 2, Citizens Bank Park will transform into something it has never been before when the NHL Winter Classic hits town.

Caroline Olt, a senior and co-captain, and her sister, Olivia, a sophomore, both describe their relationship as “very close.” Two years ago, when Olivia was being recruited to play college field hockey, the choice was clear.

On the sprint football team, where players often find themselves at different positions or even on opposite sides of the ball.

Every league game, starting with Dartmouth Saturday, is win or go home. One off day means sharing a trophy; two bad games and it’s better luck next year.

For left-hadned Ragone and the rest of the Penn offense, the minor adjustments to a righty’s game of football have become a nonfactor.

Though just as colorful off the court, Keith “Showtime” Saunders doesn’t view his own animated refereeing as a show at all — it’s just a second job.

Hicks joins fellow guard Jamal Lewis in Penn basketball’s Class of 2012 recruitment, and like Lewis, he appears to be a highly talented pickup for the Quakers.

Navy once again showed why it is a perennial powerhouse in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, dominating the Quakers in a 56-0 rout that put Penn’s hopes for a second-straight conference title in jeopardy.

Though the Quakers are just two games into the season, junior quarterback Billy Ragone isn’t giving his team a chance to win, and it’s time to make a switch.