Penn opens its two-game home stand against Columbia on Friday night and caps it off with a match against Cornell. While both contests are crucial to the Quakers, the rematch against the Lions will most likely prove to be a greater test this weekend in hopes of defending their Ivy Title.

Penn faces an uncertain road back to the Ivy championship and NCAA tournament, but can still finish as at least co-champions if they win out.

On Saturday, the Quakers faced big deficits midway through each of their sets against Yale, and though the team came close, Penn was never able to draw even with the Bulldogs, losing in straight sets.

The Penn volleyball team looks to continue its march to a second consecutive Ivy League championship when it hits the road this weekend on to take on Brown and Yale.

Penn’s four-set victory over Columbia followed a dominant win over Cornell Friday to cap a solid weekend for the Quakers on the road. The weekend’s results kept Penn in a tie with Princeton at the top of the League.

An already close college volleyball community is made even more intimate by the concentration of players from California.

In a dominant three-set performance, Penn swept the Crimson, 25-9, 25-12, 25-20, to complete a successful weekend that began with a narrow 3-2 victory over Dartmouth.

How to achieve victory on a level playing field is a question that the volleyball team needs to ask itself as it digs deeper into conference matches.

Penn is looking to earn its first Ivy win of the season against Yale and turn around a 2-8 stretch that spans the last four weeks.

The Quakers, who have struggled so far defensively this season, dropped two matches this weekend at the Palestra, losing on Friday night to Princeton and on Saturday to Marquette.

A grueling preseason, during which the Penn volleyball team lost more matches than it did in its entire 2009 campaign, has finally given way to the Ivy League slate.

Game strategy becomes much more important during Ivy League play, as the teams’ familiarity with one another demands specific plans of attack.

Though the Quakers won their first set rather handily, Delaware stormed back to defeat Penn 3-1 in a tightly contested match in Newark, Del., Saturday night.

The Quakers were swept by Cal State-Fullerton, UCLA and Liberty before rebounding with a sweep of West Virginia. In the process, they learned winning isn't everything.

Penn hopes to raise its level of play, as these will be some of the toughest opponents the Quakers will play all season.

It was a tough weekend for Penn volleyball in Maryland at the Terrapin Invitational, where the team lost six straight sets and went 1-2.

After displaying a new core of talent in its opening weekend, the defending Ivy League champion Penn volleyball team is set to pick up where it left off.