It's hard to know how honest players and coaches are being when they call Penn senior captain Brian Grandieri a "tough competitor." After all, the term does get thrown around a lot in the world of sports. But when his own mother feels that those two words are what best sums him up - maybe they're all on to something.

The men's soccer team is in need of a break tomorrow, and there'd be no better time to get it than against No. 15 Harvard on the Crimson's home turf. It has been a tough season for the Quakers (5-8-2, 2-3 Ivy), who were shut out in their last two contests against Brown and Princeton and have lost five of their last six.

At 13 years of age, Conor Turley's journey seemed to have come to an end. Instead of enjoying his last year of middle school, Turley spent most of eighth grade in the hospital battling polyarteritis nodosa, a life-threatening disease that occurs when immune cells attack the arteries for unknown reasons.

This weekend, the Penn volleyball team is hoping its opponents can win. Against Princeton, that is. Penn and the Tigers, the two best Ivy League teams, play at Brown and Yale this weekend. For the Quakers to stay in the race for the Ivy title, Princeton (19-3, 11-0) needs to lose at least one game.

Villanova's No. 25 preseason rank places it among the nation's elite teams, but that's not the number the rest of the Big 5 is preoccupied with. The Wildcats have targets on their back in Philadelphia because of a different figure. Villanova's 11 consecutive Big 5 wins is the City Series' longest streak since it began 52 years ago.

The Quakers lost the bulk of their scoring, rebounding and assists when Ibrahim Jaaber, Mark Zoller and Stephen Danley graduated. But the same cannot be said about the majority of the Ivy League. "I think there is a lot of parity in the league," Penn coach Glen Miller said.

Drexel sophomore Evan Neisler knows big-time college hoops. The 6-foot-8 forward was born into possibly the most prolific basketball region outside the Hoosier state: Raleigh-Durham, N.C. With perennial powerhouses like Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest, it would have seemed Neisler would be drawn to career in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

It's rare for mighty Harvard to be left out of the conversation when it comes to Ivy League sports. But, in men's basketball, the Crimson have recently been nothing more than an afterthought in the title chases. In April, the program finally made front-page news with the hiring of Tommy Amaker.

This season is wide open for someone to step up and call for the ball. The graduated Mark Zoller and Ibrahim Jaaber leave behind a combined 34 ppg hole for the Quakers' offense to fill. Steve Danley's almost nine points per contest will be missed and Penn's fifth leading scorer Tommy McMahon will sit out the season after back surgery as well.

It's looking more and more likely that the Ivy League title will be decided by the clash between Yale and Harvard in The Game next weekend. The Bulldogs and Crimson still have their flawless League records intact and face off against two bottom dwellers in Princeton and Penn, respectively, tomorrow.

After losing All-American Matt Herrington as well as two-time national champion Matt Valenti to graduation last year, there are more than a few questions about how far the Penn wrestling team will go this year.

When the women on Penn's swim team step onto the poolside for their first meet this Saturday, they know they have big shoes to fill for the coming season. Last year, the Quakers finished fourth at the Ivy Championships and compiled a 12-4 overall record, one of their best seasons ever.

Coach Mike Schnur says this could be fastest Penn men's swimming team ever to enter a pool. So why would Schnur only set a goal for finishing within the top five of the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League? Those familiar with EISL swimming should know about powerhouses Princeton and Harvard.

Freshman Zack Kemmerer has his sights set on the National Championships. Not just one, but two. Those familiar with the level of skill and dedication required to achieve that goal may scoff at such a declaration. But not those who know Kemmerer. Hailing from Upper Perkiomen High School in rural Pennsylvania, Kemmerer was one of the most sought-after wrestling recruits in the nation, according to Penn coach Zeke Jones.

With the season opener coming up against Drexel on Friday, the Quakers have more options at starting point guard than days left to decide who it will be. Now that Ibrahim Jaaber is gone, head coach Glen Miller could conceivably see four different players bringing the ball up the Palestra court for the home team.

Ever wonder how many pounds that center on the women's basketball team is giving up to her opponent? Well, tough luck. You won't find it on Penn Athletics' Web site, and you won't find it in the game program. As a matter of policy, sports-information staffs at colleges around the country do not publish the weights of female athletes.

On the surface, it seems like the Penn women's basketball team may be in for a rough season. The Quakers finished in fourth place in the Ivy League with a 12-15 overall record last year, but the team graduated four seniors - who combined for 70 percent of the team's scoring.