The Quakers could not pull out the win against Princeton, falling in the five-set battle at home Friday. It was deja-vu Sunday, as Penn fell to a different Tigers team: Towson.

Going into the Ancient Eight schedule with their preseason record a draw, the Red and Blue know they must now make progressive steps forward from here on out.

Wednesday night at Delaware, the Quakers (5-5) defeated the Blue Hens (3-10), 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-13), winning the final three sets to secure a .500 record entering conference play.

Of the 22 players on the volleyball team, 10 are from California. The women’s soccer team has three Californians on its roster. Both teams took trips out west within the past month.

After a 1-2 showing at the West Penn Invitational at the Palestra, this will be the last chance for the Red and the Blue to work out the kinks before the wins and losses really begin to count.

Penn got out to a sluggish start Friday night against George Mason, needing four sets to dispatch their lowly opponent. Saturday, the Quakers lost their final two matches to Radford and Rutgers.

Before embarking on a quest to regain their once-held status as volleyball champions of the Ivy League, the Quakers will need to defend a smaller honor this weekend at the Palestra.

Facing tough competition, the Red and Blue returned from their West Coast road trip with a victory, going 1-2 in Berkeley, Calif.

Penn (2-1) heads to Berkeley this weekend for the Molten Classic, where they will face the University of California (2-3), Northern Arizona (6-0) and UC Riverside (3-3) in some of its toughest matchups of the season.

With wins over La Salle and Villanova over the weekend, the Red and Blue improved their overall tournament record to 9-3.

After winning back-to-back Ivy championships, the Quakers found 2011 to be a more challenging year, as they finished in fifth place. But this year, coach Kerry Carr believes an infusion of new faces both will propel Penn to the front of the Ancient Eight standings.

Three weekends ago, in the middle of that five-game losing streak, Brown and Yale came to the Palestra and defeated the Quakers, 3-2 and 3-0, respectively. This weekend, Penn wanted retribution. It was partially attained.

Yet it’s rare that one becomes talented enough to play two sports at the Division-I level. Such is the case for sophomore volleyball player Kristen Etterbeek, who could just as well have been a collegiate tennis player.

The victory over Dartmouth was Penn’s second on the season and lifted the Quakers into sole possession of sixth place in the league.

Essentially an extended season beyond the normal high-school season, club volleyball has become a necessity for high-school players pursuing a collegiate career.

Penn Volleyball jumped out to early leads against Ivy co-leader Princeton in the last two sets, but gave them up shortly after the Tigers called timeouts and regrouped.

After one go-round through the Ivy League, it’s about time for the Penn volleyball team to right the ship.