11/15/07 5:00am
With the volleyball team's second-place finish in the Ivy League already secured, the Quakers fell, 3-1, to champions Princeton last night.
For the Tigers, it was the final win in an undefeated Ivy League season.
The Quakers' four seniors will graduate without an Ivy League title, but even they never expected to ever come this close to the trophy.
11/02/07 5:00am
The Penn volleyball team has already beaten Harvard and Dartmouth. And, if they want to keep their title hopes alive, they will have to do it again this weekend.
Two weeks ago, the Quakers swept Harvard and beat a strong Dartmouth team 3-1.
"I think we should have beat Dartmouth in three the last time," freshman libero Madison Wojciechowski said.
10/26/07 5:00am
Penn's opponents this weekend are a combined 3-11 in the Ivy League. But that doesn't mean the team is complacent.
In large part that is because they are heading to New York to face two-time defending champion Cornell. Although not on their way to a third-straight championship this year, the Big Red (6-12, 3-4 Ivy) are still a formidable opponent; they have already upset a strong Dartmouth team earlier this season.
10/22/07 5:00am
In a weekend of must-win games, outside hitter Anna Shlimak made sure her squad didn't lose.
Tied with Dartmouth for third on Friday afternoon, the Quakers defeated the Big Green before sweeping Harvard on Saturday.
The senior led Penn to a 3-1 victory over Dartmouth with a career high 19 kills, more than any Penn player all season.
10/18/07 5:00am
The Penn volleyball team won two out of three matches this weekend, but nobody is happy about it.
The Quakers did start off the weekend with a convincing 3-0 victory over Brown, though the Bears (2-15, 0-5 Ivy) sit at the bottom of the Ivy League standings.
10/11/07 5:00am
Outside hitter Laura Black spikes a ball wide. But she has no time to hang her head - it's time for one of the Penn volleyball team's many cheers.
After every point, win or lose, the six players meet in the middle of the court and do some sort of jig and chant.
09/27/07 5:00am
The Penn volleyball team may have recorded its last upset of the season. From here on out it could be the favorite.
The Quakers (6-5) defeated a strong Villanova team (9-6) in three games last night.
"We are an upset team this year," coach Kerry Carr said.
09/24/07 5:00am
You don't need to look at the scoreboard to see which team won a volleyball match. All you need to see is the attack percentage. Win that battle and the match is yours.
Penn demonstrated that over the weekend, winning the percentage battle and thus taking the match two out of three times.
09/21/07 5:00am
Penn volleyball will need every advantage this weekend. And the Palestra just might give one to them.
Facing top teams Albany (7-5) and Temple (4-10) in the Sheraton-Penn invitational this weekend the Quakers may have to rely on a little home-court advantage.
09/17/07 5:00am
The Penn volleyball team went to Washington D.C. and got what it came for - its first win.
The Quakers (3-4) beat Lafayette 3-0 on Friday at the American University Tournament but didn't stop there. They went on to sweep both Army and Navy before falling to American in five games in the finals to take second place in the tournament.
09/10/07 5:00am
The Penn volleyball team is not focused on wins and losses just yet. And it's a good thing, because the Quakers lost all three matches at the Seton Hall tournament this weekend.
The Quakers fell to host Seton Hall in four games on Friday. The Pirates (5-3) were in their eighth match of the year, while it was the season opener for the Quakers.
09/06/07 5:00am
Eventually growing to 6-foot-1, Julia Swanson was meant to be an athlete.
The only question for the freshman was: in which sport?
"I used to play basketball," said Swanson. "I love how [volleyball is] really intense and so fun, but still feminine. I used to play basketball, but I didn't feel girly and that turned me off.
04/25/07 5:00am
The ice water felt good.
Coaches Mike Dowd and Sara Schiffman and senior co-captain Ashley Lostritto got the celebratory bath on Saturday as the women's tennis team beat Columbia 7-0 to cap a perfect Ivy League season.
As the music blared and his players celebrated, a wet coach Dowd described the mood: "It's a tremendous feeling," he said.
04/20/07 5:00am
The ice water felt good.
Both coaches and Senior co-captain Ashley Lostritto got the celebratory bath on Saturday as Penn beat Columbia 7-0 to cap a perfect Ivy League season.
As the music glared and his players danced, a wet Coach Michael Dowd described the mood.
04/13/07 5:00am
No one on the women's tennis team knows what it feels like to beat Harvard.
But the Quakers are hoping to change that by the time they fly back from New England on Saturday night.
Penn's critical weekend starts on Friday at Harvard (3-12, 1-1) before they travel to Hanover to take on Dartmouth (8-7, 0-2) Saturday.
04/09/07 5:00am
Yale provided a cold, cruel wakeup call to the women's tennis team on Friday, but the Quakers woke up just as quickly.
Heavily-favored Penn beat Yale 5-2 and Brown 7-0, but not before the team was dealt a scare.
The Quakers (13-4, 3-0 Ivy) lost 2-1 in doubles against the Bulldogs (7-8, 2-1), putting them behind early on.
04/02/07 5:00am
Penn women's tennis gave its raucous crowd plenty to cheer about against Princeton on Saturday. The Quakers defeated the Tigers 5-2 in front of an unusually large following at Lott Courts.
03/02/07 5:00am
The women's tennis team heads to California for spring break with clear goals - five wins and good tans.
The road trip will help show the No. 37 Quakers (6-1) exactly where they stand. They start out with their two toughest opponents, No. 41 UC Irvine and No.
02/28/07 5:00am
Coach Cole's first season with Penn didn't yield great results. The team was 12-27 overall and 7-13 in the Ivies, though the record was less reflective of Cole than of the enormous transition the team was undergoing.
02/19/07 5:00am
Saturday started and ended well for the women's tennis team. But the time in between left much to be desired.
After sweeping the doubles against No. 14 Virginia Commonwealth, the Quakers lost the singles 5-1 to fall in the overall match, 5-2. The team rebounded with an easy 5-0 win over Georgetown (1-2) only hours afterward.
