Penn is locked in for its last crucial stretch of the season. Penn (9-4, 3-1 Ivy) is looking forward to the final week of Ivy League play, with upcoming matchups against Yale (5-8,1-3), Brown (6-6, 2-2), and Princeton (9-5, 4-0). Penn snapped its three game winning streak, with a tough double overtime loss to eighth nationally ranked Delaware 3-2 on Sunday.

Penn volleyball may be a young team, but they've seen all they need to see. With one trip around the Ivy League complete, the Red and Blue are set to begin the rematches with now more familiar foes, starting with the Ancient Eight's best. On Friday night, Penn (8-11, 3-4 Ivy) will head to New Jersey to take on rival Princeton in their lone game this weekend.

Consistency at the top is the key for any team with hopes for a title. However, for Penn women's soccer, staying consistent within the Ivy League is becoming a challenging task.

The farewell tour. The victory lap. The last hurrah. Whatever you call it, there’s no avoiding the inevitability of retirement in athletics.

The articles all read the same. The offense gets the glory and the keeper gets a shout out for a great save. But what about the defense?

Senior Sports Editor Nick Buchta: There’s almost an embarrassment of riches to pick from on Penn women’s soccer — almost all of them freshmen!

The most accomplished coach in program history, Penn volleyball's Kerry Carr is nearing 500 games on the sidelines for the Red and Blue. Her greatest battle, however, took place away from the gym. 

Before US Open champions Mohammed El Shorbaghy for the men and Camille Serme for the women are presented with their trophies, they will wait for head coach of the Penn women’s squash team to call their name. For the past four years, Gilly Lane has made the trek next door to Drexel University to serve as an emcee for the yearly US Open of Squash tournament. Before every match, the emcee is responsible for introducing each of the players and giving a quick bio before getting the crowd pumped up for the game.

In a sport like volleyball, so much depends on being able to move on from tough points. But often times, it can be just as important to move on from tough matches.

On Saturday, the Penn Women’s soccer team travelled to Dartmouth College for a must win matchup after falling in overtime 1-0 to current Ivy League Front Runner Columbia just one week prior.

This past Friday, Penn cross country took on some of the nation’s best — and the men and women proved that they were up for the challenge. Out of 31 teams, which included seven of the nation's top twelve women’s teams and six of the top twelve-ranked men’s teams, the Quakers finished 14th and 20th, respectively.

Down an early goal, it seemed as though Penn would suffer another heart-wrenching loss to Columbia.

Want to beat the Penn field hockey team? That’ll take something that hasn’t been done for the last 157 minutes and 34 seconds: a goal against Liz Mata. This coming Friday, the Red and Blue (8-3, 2-1) will host the rivals Columbia (6-5, 1-2), before they travel to face off against Delaware in a nonconference bout on Sunday.

Did nationals come early this year? This Friday marks one of the most important meets in the Penn cross country season as both the men’s and women’s teams travel to Madison for the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. 

If you're going to a Penn women's soccer game this year, don't expect a high-scoring affair. The defense just won't allow it. A strong back end has been crucial in the Quakers' success thus far this season, and it will surely play a big factor in this weekend's key conference matchup against Dartmouth (6-5-0, 0-3-0 Ivy). Coming off their sixth shutout of the season against Delaware State on Tuesday, the Red and Blue (7-3-1, 1-2-0) have compiled some impressive defensive stats so far.

As another big weekend approaches for Penn Volleyball here at the Palestra as they look to produce out on the court against Ivy rivals Brown and Yale.

In sports, it is good to have a short memory. So far this season, Penn women’s soccer has shown that's exactly what they have, downing non-conference opponent Delaware State on Tuesday night, 4-0, following a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Columbia over the weekend.