For Nyssa Liebermann, tomorrow's game at Dartmouth hits close to home. In the Hanover, N.H., contest, Penn's senior captain will be pitted against Lizzie Bildner, the Big Green's leading scorer and the Penn forward's childhood friend. "She's a pretty happy-go-lucky girl," Liebermann said.

Penn's poor play against Villanova won't cut it against Princeton. Tomorrow at the Palestra, the Quakers volleyball team (4-6) kicks off its Ivy league season against undefeated Princeton (9-0). This will be Princeton's first Ivy League match as well. On Wednesday, the Quakers lost to Villanova in a clean sweep.

When asked about how he viewed Penn's football program this year, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens replied, "They're as good as any team I've seen on tape" - high praise, considering Teevens' squad played host to No. 1 New Hampshire last week and ended up on the wrong end of a 56-14 beatdown.

When Columbia hired Norries Wilson to be its head football coach, the university joined a very elite club. Columbia became the 10th school out of over 200 I-A and I-AA programs to currently have a minority head football coach. They are also only one of three schools to have a minority head football and head basketball coach, joining Valparaiso and Washington.

The football landscape is littered with examples like Ryan Fuselier's: A former quarterback becomes a wide receiver and has some success. But the case of the fifth-year Dartmouth senior is somewhat different than most. That's because Fuselier chose to go to Dartmouth specifically so that he would not have to switch to receiver.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - This game had it all. Tough physical play, broken records and inconsistent officiating were all present in the Penn field hockey team's 3-2 loss to No. 16 Villanova (9-3, 2-0 Big East) last night at Villanova Stadium. Although the Quakers played the first half stronger than expected, the team was unable to build off the momentum of a Nyssa Liebermann goal 52 seconds before halftime.

Harvard can count on running back Clifton Dawson for 100-plus yards every game, but recently, there has been a new guy handing him the ball every game. This week it will be Richard Irvin, the fourth starter in the Crimson's last four games. After Irvin transferred from Tulane last fall, he was immediately plugged in as the starting quarterback in the Crimson's opener.

In 2005, the Columbia football team started out 2-0 and then proceeded to lose its next eight games, including all seven in the Ivy league. It was the Lions' 41st losing season in the last 44 years.

The volleyball team's four-game winning streak hit a wall yesterday, as the team suffered a loss to the Villanova Wildcats, 24-30, 25-30, 22-30.

As far as college football scandals go, this one wasn't too bad.

A year ago, the Penn field hockey team shocked the Villanova Wildcats by scoring three straight goals in the second half to earn a 3-2 comeback victory.

This past weekend in Providence, R.I., Brown fell at home to Harvard, 38-21. But if history repeats itself, Brown can look past its loss to the Crimson and battle for a second-straight Ivy League title. Last year, the Bears opened their season by defeating Georgetown and losing to Harvard before winning eight straight games to capture their first-ever outright Ivy League Championship.

Penn coach Al Bagnoli had an appropriate parallel for his team's performance in its 27-20 loss to Villanova Saturday - junior defensive back Greg Ambrogi. At first, all was well for Ambrogi, who is also the punt returner, but then things got worse and stayed that way.

When the Princeton football team rolled into Franklin Field last season for homecoming, Penn fans were already planning their post-game celebrations. The Quakers had defeated Princeton in the last nine meetings, blurring the line between historic rivalry and annual blowout.

Going into the 2006 football season, there were concerns about what would happen when an entirely new secondary took the field. The team's worst fears about the possibilities were realized during Saturday's 27-20 loss to Villanova. In the season opener against Lafayette, the secondary allowed quarterback Brad Maurer to accrue nearly 300 yards but didn't allow a touchdown in the air.

Concerns about the decisions of Harvard and Princeton universities to discontinue their respective early-admissions policies extend beyond the academic world - the recent changes have raised questions on the athletic scene as well.

After beating No. 22 Lafayette on the road in their season opener, the Quakers were satisfied - and understandably so. A victory over a ranked team could have signaled an end to the problems that plagued them during their season-ending slump the year before.