Volleyball hopes for another Ivy knockout

Round two of the Penn volleyball team's quest for vengeance will take place this weekend.

In round one, on Oct. 5, the Quakers knocked off two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton in its home gym, 3-1, to avenge a straight-game loss to the Tigers during last year's regular season.

Now, three weeks later, Penn will get its chance to turn the tables on Dartmouth, the only other team the Quakers lost to during the 2000 regular season.

The Red and Blue will again be on foreign turf, first traveling to the Malkin Athletic Center in Cambridge, Mass., to face Harvard at 7 p.m., on Friday night, before playing on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., at the Big Green's Pizzitola Center in Hanover, N.H.

But the Quakers (10-4, 4-1 Ivy League) aren't worried about playing away from the Palestra.

"All the girls are really excited to get on the road," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "This is the first real road trip we've been on, and we've missed that."

On paper, defeating the Big Green (7-9, 2-4) should be easier than coming out on top against the Crimson (9-7, 2-4). Dartmouth has dropped six of its last seven matches, its hitters are struggling with consistency and its blockers have been overmatched by the opposition all season.

But Penn isn't counting out the Big Green.

"I don't see them as easier than Harvard at all," Major said. "I have a feeling they'll play their strongest game against us, and if we don't bring our 'A' game, we could lose."

Leading Dartmouth's backcourt defensive effort is senior outside hitter Ashley Dean, who is averaging 4.15 digs per game.

"Dartmouth has always been strong defensively with Ashley," Major said. "We went up there last year, totally overlooked them and got beat. We haven't forgotten that."

And the Crimson haven't forgotten that Penn ended their 2000 season in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament. Harvard has brought in a couple of freshmen outside hitters -- Kaego Ogbechie and Pernilla Schweitzer -- to aid the effort to topple the Quakers.

"Kaego could have played anywhere in Division I," Major said. "She's a pretty awesome player. But [the Crimson] haven't been able to put it together teamwise, and I think that's something that we totally have over them."

And the Quakers will be counting on their all-around game to deter Harvard's mission for vengeance, as well as going after a little revenge of their own against Dartmouth.

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