PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 29 - The Quakers overcame deficits, questionable calls and brilliant play by the Tigers to force a fifth and deciding game. But in the end, the ball just wouldn't bounce the Penn volleyball team's way. Princeton took the five-game thriller 26-30, 33-31, 30-16, 34-36, 15-11.

HANOVER, N.H. When a team fails to meet early expectations, all eyes turn first to the man under center. When a team scores fewer than 12 points a game through those losses, all eyes turn first to the man under center. This isn't an excerpt from some kind of football prayer book.

HANOVER, N.H., Sept. 29 - Penn's season has officially taken a turn for the worst. In a wild finish, the Quakers trailed Dartmouth 21-13 with less than 30 seconds to go in the game.

The men's soccer team had an opportunity to vent out some frustration at its slow start to the season on Saturday at Saint Joseph's. Playing an overmatched and sliding St. Joe's squad, Penn dominated the entire game, winning 4-0. The win put Penn at 2-4-2, while St.

HANOVER, N.H., Sept. 29 - In what was a thoroughly confusing roller coaster of a football game on Saturday, it is fitting that the deciding play in the final moments would leave the Quakers with far more questions than answers.

Five weeks after Roger Federer successfully defended his U.S. Open title at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York, the Penn men's tennis team failed to follow suit at the same venue. The Quakers' two-year reign at the ECAC Championships met its end on Saturday with a 6-1 loss to Harvard.

It only took five minutes for the Penn field hockey team to shake off the rust accumulated during a two-week break. Dartmouth had the ball for the first five minutes of the game, but as soon as Penn got its first possession, the Quakers dominated, winning 5-1.

The Quakers' defense played well enough to keep them in the game, but it was the Cornell defense that handed Penn a 1-0 victory on Friday. The only tally came on an own goal just under 10 minutes into Penn's Ivy League opener. Cornell defender Leslie Campbell inadvertently headed the ball into her own net.

The Quakers struggled mightily in the red zone all game, and the failure to convert a crucial fourth down sealed the loss. Penn had 406 yards of total offense, yet it only managed to put 13 points on the board.

By the middle of the Dartmouth football team's 2005 campaign, the most unlikely of quarterbacks emerged. Josh Cohen, a true freshman, completed 25 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start against Holy Cross and earned the starting job for the rest of the season.

After the last day of spring football practice, most coaches and players take it easy. Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens took a plane from Hanover, N.H., to San Diego and started a three-week scenic tour across America back to Hanover on his bicycle. After seeing the toll cancer had taken on his family and friends, the 50-year-old coach set out with a goal of promoting cancer awareness.

After two weeks without a game, the Penn field hockey team (2-4, 1-1 Ivy) will be back in action tomorrow, as Penn hosts Dartmouth in both team's third Ancient Eight game of the year. Despite the layoff, Penn coach Val Cloud expects her team to bounce back.

If Columbia running back Jordan Davis was getting an ego boost from his 123.5-yard rushing average, it might not last past tomorrow afternoon. Columbia (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) at Princeton (1-1, 0-0) This one might show how much nonconference games actually matter.

Drawing comparisons to Dartmouth isn't exactly what Penn had in mind for this season, but the chips have fallen that way for a team that could be about one loss away from crisis mode.

This season, the women's soccer team has looked good in nonconference play and is tied with Harvard for the Ivy League's best overall record. Throw all that out the window. Penn will be at 0-0 again when League play starts against Cornell (4-4-0) at 7 p.

Historically, Princeton has had the edge over Penn in volleyball. This year, the Quakers hope to turn that around in their favor. This Saturday, Penn opens its Ivy League season at Princeton, looking to start atop the division with a win. Penn and the Tigers have both been on hot streaks as of late.

The Penn men's tennis team came into the school year as the defending two-time co-Ivy League champions. But the Ancient Eight title isn't the only one they'll try to defend. The Quakers head into the ECAC Championships this weekend in Flushing Meadows, N.