New coach Iain Braddack picked up his first two wins at Penn in wins over Georgetown and Norfolk State. Penn also fell to George Mason and UNC-Wilmington.

Penn women’s volleyball opens its first season under new coach Iain Braddak this weekend at the Georgetown Classic. The Quakers will compete against George Mason, Norfolk State, UNC-Wilmington and the host, Georgetown, in a round-robin format.

There are several Ivy League sports teams that have been the definition of the word “dynasty” in recent years. Yet as strong as some of these programs have been, only one can be the best of the best.

It was a Cinderella story. Not once, but twice. 

Two months after Katie Schumacher-Cawley shocked the team by leaving Penn after just one year for Penn State, Penn Athletics announced Monday that a new head coach had been hired for Penn volleyball: Iain Braddak.

Two months later, the team is still without a head coach. In this offseason limbo, assistant coach Josh Wielebnicki has stepped up to fill the gap. And in the eyes of many players, not much has changed.

Penn volleyball must conduct yet another coaching search after their head coach took a job at Penn State just one year into her Quakers tenure.

Taking a step back from the actual games themselves, 2017 was an exciting year for the Penn Athletics community. 

With various teams engaging in some instant classic battles, the Quakers have given fans a wild range of emotions throughout the calendar year, with the lone constant being thorough entertainment across the board.

The next time Penn volleyball takes the court, things will look quite different.

If Penn is able to finish off the season with two wins, and both Yale and Princeton lose their matches this weekend, then the Quakers will be eligible to compete in the Ivy League Playoffs for a chance at winning the league title.

While most eyes were focused on Penn football’s thrilling Homecoming victory over Princeton this weekend, more than half a dozen other teams were also in action for Penn Athletics — some playing their last competitions of the year, others playing their first.

“I want to go out with a bang,” said senior setter Sydney Morton, who along with five of her classmates will play her final home games this weekend. “I just want to put on a great show for [the fans] and get a W the last time I’m playing in the Palestra.”

Red and blue jersey, knee pads, and court sneakers are the usual attire for a Penn volleyball player. Yet, standing before me is outside hitter Raven Sulaimon, clad in a chicken suit.

Until this season, Furrer had spent her entire Penn career — and her entire life — as an outside hitter, one of the players whose job it is to go up in the air, spike the ball with authority, and finish off as many points as possible with a devastating attack.  Now, everything has changed for the redheaded Texan: her position, her role, her stats, her spot on the court and even the color of her jersey. 

After a tough loss the previous weekend, Penn volleyball prepared hard all week for its upcoming pair of conference showdowns. That hard work paid off.

Ready for another busy weekend at the Palestra, Penn volleyball is set to play its penultimate home doubleheader against Brown on Friday night and Yale on Saturday.