A pair of third-year defensive specialists are coming together to put the team first, even though they'll never wear the same uniform.

With five former captains having graduated this spring leading to an unprecedented senior-less roster, it’s no secret that turnover has been a constant storyline following Penn volleyball in 2016. But, at least for one weekend, it seemed everything was the same as always for the Red and Blue.

Saint Joe's will likely struggle to accomplish anything at the Big 5 Tournament this weekend, on account of not having a volleyball team, but Penn and the other three squads involved enter the round-robin affair with high hopes. The Quakers will see some more local action this weekend, the final weekend before Ivy League play kicks off.

Considering they have yet to even take their first college midterm, a pair of Penn freshman athletes had quite precocious weeks for their respective teams. Women’s soccer’s Emily Sands and Volleyball’s Caroline Furrer both picked up Ivy League Rookie of the Week Awards following high-scoring performances that led their teams to winning nonconference weekends. Sands played a part in three out of the four Quaker goals this weekend.

Coming off an 0-4 trip to Houston, Penn volleyball needed a strong showing at home in the Penn Invitational. The Quakers answered the call.

Off to an 0-4 start for the first time since 2006, it’s been a long week for Penn volleyball. But if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, there’s no better place than the Palestra to provide it. Following a frustrating performance in Houston, the Quakers will return home in an effort to snatch their first win of the year.

The Quakers messed with Texas, and while their record is worse to show for it, morale is certainly not headed down south.

College sports have two different philosophies when it comes to the buildup to conference play: some teams prefer to ease into the big games, building confidence, while others prefer to test themselves and raise the stakes. Penn women’s volleyball has taken the latter approach this year. Over the next three weekends, the team will play in three tournaments against a myriad of opponents from across the country.

For a typical head coach, summer vacation might signal the time to hit the recruiting trail, scheme for the upcoming season and enjoy the rare opportunity to unwind with the constant frenzy of the school year taking a brief pause. But Penn volleyball coach Kerry Carr did things a tad differently.

Kerry Carr could have opted to select her whole senior class as the team's group of captains for a second straight year.

After a disappointing 13-13 finish to the season last season, head coach Kerry Carr has decided to make an offseason splash that she hopes will set Penn Volleyball up for future success. Newest assistant coach Scott Schweihofer joins Carr’s staff in the hopes of bringing the Ivy title back to Philadelphia for the first time since 2010. After spending the last two years at George Mason University as the team’s top assistant and recruiting coordinator, Schweihofer comes to Penn after helping the Patriots to their best single-season win total in six years.

As spring semester ended and students prepared to embark on their various summer journeys, one women’s soccer player had reason to be especially excited. Erica Higa, a sophomore midfielder for the Red and Blue, traveled to Rwanda alongside fellow Penn Athletics representative coach Kerry Major Carr of women’s volleyball and around ten other Penn students and faculty as part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Rwanda Gashora Program. The program was created to explore the possibilities of using solar energy and information communication technology in low-resource communities in developing countries.

On Tuesday, Penn volleyball and coach Kerry Carr announced the five members of the 2016 recruiting class, including Ariana Wiltjer, a middle blocker from Portland, Ore.

Penn volleyball will carry some momentum and added confidence into the fall of 2016 after a strong finish to the 2015 campaign, but it will also certainly be leaving plenty behind.

As we enter the final weekend of the 2015 season, Penn volleyball is already looking towards the future.

Same, same but different. The typical American collegiate experience is four years. While some deviate from that path and finish early or late, a majority of students at Penn find themselves on a similar track.

It’s time to say goodbye.