Volleyball wins share of Ivy title

The wait is officially over.

The Penn volleyball team returned to greatness last Saturday, notching a straight-game victory over Yale at the Lee Amphitheater in New Haven, Conn., and capturing its first Ivy League title since 1990.

"We pretty much started screaming and flipping out when we found out," Penn junior right-side hitter Stacey Carter said.

Interestingly enough, the players had no idea that the match against Yale was for the Ivy Championship.

"The girls figured out all the different ways we might tie [for first place], but they were thinking of a playoff game situation," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "I don't think they realized that the [potential] playoff game was for the NCAA bid, not for the league championship.

"I didn't want to tell them before the match, because we had two chances earlier to do this and we hadn't pulled it off yet. So I didn't want any added pressure."

The Quakers' first two chances came against Princeton last Tuesday at the Palestra and against Brown last Friday at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.

But Penn (17-6, 11-3 Ivy League) did not falter in its third attempt, leaving the Constitution State with a 30-28, 30-26, 30-28 win.

The Quakers were a little disappointed, however, as they ended up sharing the 2001 Ivy crown with Brown (16-10, 11-3), which won seven of its final eight league matches to finish in a tie for first place with Penn.

"It's a little bittersweet to share the title," Carter said. "But we're still thrilled, and we couldn't be happier right now."

Penn played phenomenally against Yale (9-14, 3-11) on Saturday. To focus on the match, the Quakers avoided thinking about what consequences the contest might have on their chances for the team's first-ever NCAA bid.

"What we did best [on Saturday] was we were able to shrug off the pressure," Carter said. "We just wanted to go out there, have fun and play the best volleyball that we could."

Penn played a strong match against Brown as well, collecting 15 blocks and 116 digs. But the Bears were unstoppable defensively, gathering a mind-boggling 134 digs in their 33-31, 30-24, 20-30, 30-27 victory.

"Brown played some of the best defense I have ever seen," Major said. "I don't think we played down at all. Brown was just on fire emotionally.

"Every dig that came up gave them more energy, and everything they touched on Friday night was gold."

It was one of those situations where all one could do was watch in awe.

"The girls were upset and they thought we should have won," Major said. "But I just looked at it as Brown played incredibly well with no mistakes on their home court."

While Penn and Brown will be officially recognized as co-champions, only one team will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Nov. 29.

The Quakers and the Bears will meet for a one-match playoff tomorrow at 7 p.m. on a neutral court -- Yale's Lee Amphitheater -- to determine this year's Ivy representative at the tournament.

"This match is definitely the biggest in my career in terms of what the results will mean," Carter said. "I'm really looking forward to it, and I think we're definitely ready for it. We watched film, we picked them apart and we know exactly what we need to do in order to beat them."

Tomorrow, however, will be a matter of execution. And Penn is hoping that this time, the Bears will be the team watching in awe.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.