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.

There’s no place like home. There’s no time like Homecoming.

Statistics have always been an integral part of sports.

Dig. Set. Kill. The success of a volleyball team’s offense often relies on the relationship between the setters and the outside hitters. Penn’s primary setter, senior Ronnie Bither, has spent the past four years working to make sure the Quakers' offense runs smoothly.

Two days. Six sets. One win. One loss.

This weekend, Penn volleyball will have some intimidating guests at its Halloween party.