The California Connection

Freshman year.

The bewildering nine-month period of a college career, characterized for most on Penn's campus by scrambling to and sleeping through early morning classes, foraging for untainted scraps of dining hall food and flocking enthusiastically to over-crowded parties.

Now try balancing the strains of freshman year with the pressure of being a Division I athlete, starting consistently for a team at the top of the Ivy League and leading your team in blocks or the Ancient Eight in service aces.

For first-year Penn volleyball players Michelle Kauffman and Cara Thomason, this is what it means to be a freshman.

"I was scared the first couple of days, of playing at a college, but once I got into the motion, it's just playing volleyball," said Kauffman, Penn's starting middle-hitter who leads the Quakers in blocks and is in the top-10 in the Ivy League for service aces. "When the line-up first came out I was shocked. I'm a freshman. I'm not supposed to be starting. Then, I was like 'I can handle this.'"

Out of the six promising recruits brought in by Penn coach Kerry Carr, Kauffman and Thomason have distinguished themselves as deserving of their uncommon starting positions.

"It's really unusual to be a freshman and play as much as they do," team captain, Stacey Carter said. "They jumped out from the beginning and added a new dimension to our team."

"I don't think you can ever expect as a freshman to have a starting spot," Thomason said. "You can just hope. You have to work as hard as everyone else, if not harder."

And worked they have.

Thomason is currently leading the Ivy League in service aces with 35 and has the second-highest team count of total digs with 228. She also holds the Penn record for service aces in a game, which she captured and then proceeded to break her own record in a subsequent match.

Carr points to Thomason's strong serving game as one of her major assets.

Thomason "puts other teams on the defense right away with her jump serve," Carr said.

Thomason also contributes immensely to the Quakers' defense.

"In the front row she is the best person on our team that uses the block," Carr said. "When she sees the block and is able to use it, she automatically gets a kill, no one can block it."

Playing both varsity volleyball and basketball in high school, Thomason grew up in Los Angeles and led both her club and high school volleyball teams to championships. She was named a member of the All-State team and honored by the Los Angeles City Council for exceptional achievement in volleyball.

Thomason's competitive nature was one of the qualities that caught Carr's eye.

"She always was on a winning team," Carr said. "She made people around her better -- made the team better."

Luckily for the Red and Blue, the trend continues.

"She wants to win every single game, every single sprint, every single contest I give her, she wants to win," Carr said.

While Thomason brings the spirit of competition to the Quakers, Kauffman brings persistence.

"Being a middle-hitter is very hard," Thomason said of Kauffman's position. "If she'll miss a hit, instead of acting frustrated, it just fuels her desire to get a kill next time."

"She brings the big kill to the game," Carr said.

Kauffman has brought more than just an ability to slam the volleyball to the reigning Ivy League Champions. Her skills in the middle of the court have helped fill the void left by the graduated Kelly Szczerba, who led the team in blocks last year.

Kauffman leads the team this season in total blocks with 50 and blocks per game with 0.96.

"She's a strong blocker," Carr said. "She manages to close and penetrates when we do get the ball."

Spending most of her high-school career in San Diego, Kauffman was featured in Volleyball Magazine as one of the top-50 high school volleyball players. She was also named a 2001 Paul Mitchell High School All-American and a StudentSports.com All-American as well as the San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times Volleyball Player of the Year.

Kauffman turned down scholarships to William & Mary and Duke, even though her father is a former Blue Devil. Similarly, Thomason declined offers to attend William & Mary and Virginia.

So what makes two talented and heavily recruited players leave California -- where volleyball is king -- and travel across the country to play for a school with no athletic scholarships, like Penn?

"For certain teams you can feel the chemistry," Kauffman said. "I fell in love with the team, the area and made up my mind I was going to come."

Thomason shared similar reasons.

"Because all my best friends in high school were on the volleyball team, it made having a team that got along really important to me," she said.

The two seem to have had no problem fitting in.

"They have felt really comfortable with the rest of the team from the very beginning," Carter said. "There was never a gap between them and the rest of the team."

Carr is familiar with the appeal of strong player bonds to potential recruits.

"The team chemistry -- they pick up on that right away," Carr said. "The team friendships are what make us competitive. They're why we win close ballgames -- they care about each other."

Winning the Ivy League Championship last year probably didn't hurt Penn's appeal either.

And with the help of Kauffman and Thomason, the Quakers are well on their way to another title.

They are "very close and beginning to form the nucleus of the freshman class," Carr said. "Everyone else will build off of it."

Carr is also expecting the two to provide leadership and experience for the program in the future.

The future of the team in only two-thirds of a season in West Philly.

Not bad for a couple of freshmen.

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