Volleyball stands alone atop Ivies

To say that Penn was anything less than dominant last weekend would be an understatement.

After striving all year to remain within reach of former first-place Harvard, Penn (19-4, 10-1) swept both Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend, moving into sole possession of first place in the Ivy League standings.

The Quakers defeated Dartmouth on Friday night, and later discovered that Princeton had edged Harvard, 3-2.

This set the stage for what may prove to be the unofficial Ivy League championship match, as Harvard hosted Penn Saturday.

Penn emerged as the more prepared and determined team with the 3-0 win.

"We were really focused on beating Harvard," Penn coach Kerry Carr said. "First place was a huge motivating factor, and we followed our scouting report perfectly."

The Quakers had hoped to limit Harvard's kills, and, more specifically, to contain the Crimson's leading outside hitter, Kaego Ogbechie, who recorded 41 kills and an over-.400 hitting percentage last week versus Brown and Yale.

But the Red and Blue did more than curtail Harvard's hitting. The Quakers destroyed the Crimson's offensive attack.

"Our defense was phenomenal" Carr said, "from beginning to finish."

Harvard recorded a (-.015) hitting percentage and 10 errors. And Ogbechie was held to just nine kills and a season-low (-.033) hitting percentage.

While Penn's defense was critical to its victories, the Quakers' offensive attack was equally commanding.

Elisabeth Kwak Hefferan, who is also a reporter for The Daily Pennsylvanian, posted a game-high 13 kills against Harvard.

Freshman Cara Thomason tallied 10 kills and 31 total digs this weekend, while Heather Janssen had 12 kills and four blocks versus Harvard.

And, after being named to the Ivy League Honor Roll for the week of Nov. 5, Meghan Schloat continued her strong play with 77 total assists in the two matches.

But Penn's success last weekend cannot be attributed to any one individual performance.

"It was a total team effort," Carr said. "This was the best I've ever seen the team play."

And, although the Quakers did not need it, they also "had luck and momentum on [their] side," Carr said.

As Harvard struggled to gain control of the match, Ogbechie struck a potential kill toward senior Stacey Carter, who lacked time to prepare for the dig.

Somehow, the ball bounced off Carter's head, preventing the kill, and Schloat then set the ball for a Penn kill.

Indeed, it seemed everything went Penn's way last weekend.

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