VILLANOVA, Pa. - How did four Villanova defenders record their first career interceptions on Saturday? Easy - they were in the zone.

If you thought Penn struggled in its running game on Saturday against Villanova, take a look at the Yale-Cornell contest. While the Quakers tallied 45 yards -- with 29 coming from quarterback Bryan Walker - the Big Red mustered just 39 on the ground as they fell 51-12 to the Bulldogs.

Texas volleyball is big - only California can boast of having more talent in the sport. And Lone Star State volleyball players, like most Texans, have a tendency to stick close to home. So high-school teammates Anna Shlimak and Julia Swanson weren't exactly following the crowd when they chose, three years apart, to play for the Quakers.

Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller must feel like he's playing "Whack-a-Mole." He knocks one problem down, and another pops up. Last year, his team had trouble closing out games. This year, it can't open them. In 2006, the Quakers were prone to fading in the second half.

By the end of the night, the Penn quarterback combination of Robert Irvin and Bryan Walker had thrown a total of seven interceptions to hand Villanova a 34-14 win, their seventh in a row in this series.

You don't need to look at the scoreboard to see which team won a volleyball match. All you need to see is the attack percentage. Win that battle and the match is yours. Penn demonstrated that over the weekend, winning the percentage battle and thus taking the match two out of three times.

VILLANOVA, Pa., Sept. 22 - With star running back Joe Sandberg in street clothes on Saturday night, Penn got a little glimpse of what 2007 could have looked like. Sandberg, a fifth-year senior who rushed for roughly 100 yards against Villanova each of the last two years, wasn't a lock to return to the Quakers this year after transferring from Penn to Rutgers and back again three years ago.

Penn's best doubles team scores upset The singles bracket of the Cissie Leary Invitational may have been a dud. But as far as Penn was concerned, the doubles competition couldn't have gone any better. Fresh off of taking the William and Mary Invitational, Ekaterina Kosminskaya and Julia Koulbitskaya gave Penn its first ever doubles win at the Leary Invitational.

After 10 years of disappointment, the women's volleyball team finally got a victory against longtime rival Temple in the Sheraton-Penn Invitational. "The Temple match was great," coach Kerry Carr said. "We really played on top of our game and beat a strong international team.

VILLANOVA, Pa. The Penn quarterbacks' effort - a combined 23 for 42, 248 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions - is a misleading stat line. They played far worse. Villanova's defense befuddled quarterback Robert Irvin (five interceptions, 27 attempts) and backup Bryan Walker (two picks, 15 attempts) all night, and despite a good overall effort, the Quakers fell hard.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Quakers had a chance to become the queens of the city this weekend. It turns out they are squarely in the middle of the pack in Philadelphia's soccer hierarchy. After defeating La Salle at Rhodes Field 3-1 Friday, Penn was blanked on the road by Villanova 4-0 yesterday.

When Villanova quarterback Marvin Burroughs graduated last spring, Wildcats fans probably thought they had seen the last of the veteran that carried the offense for three years. But the familiar face has been in the crowd at the home games so far, watching his successor, sophomore quarterback Antwon Young, who has been like a younger brother to him.

No matter how many times you knock them down, they're going to get right back up - and probably score a couple of goals while they're at it. Despite suffering their fair share of bumps and bruises, the Penn women's soccer team has managed to rise above considerable adversity early this season to post a 4-1-1 record.

Cornell (1-0, 0-0) at Yale (1-0, 0-0) It's not often that a team can play spoiler in Week 2, but that's the role Cornell may find itself in tomorrow when it pays No. 21 Yale a visit. The Big Red, who crushed Bucknell last weekend, could send the Elis toppling out of the top-25 and simultaneously ruin their home opener if they were to pull off the upset.

Penn volleyball will need every advantage this weekend. And the Palestra just might give one to them. Facing top teams Albany (7-5) and Temple (4-10) in the Sheraton-Penn invitational this weekend the Quakers may have to rely on a little home-court advantage.

Tomorrow night will take the Penn-Villanova football game to a place it hasn't been for years: Villanova Stadium. The teams will meet for the fourth year in a row, but no current Penn player has set foot in the Wildcats' home venue.

Time to settle down. No more road trips out west, no more Penn Soccer Classic. No more goalie waffling. No excuses. The men's soccer team (1-3-1) begins the main stretch of its season at Rhodes Field on Saturday night against Lehigh. There are only three more matches until the short Ivy League season begins, and coach Rudy Fuller laments that his team "is not as far along as we want to be at this point.