V-ball scores a rare Temple win

After 10 years of disappointment, the women's volleyball team finally got a victory against longtime rival Temple in the Sheraton-Penn Invitational.

"The Temple match was great," coach Kerry Carr said. "We really played on top of our game and beat a strong international team."

The Quaker offense largely outplayed the Owls. Penn's attacking percentage (kills minus errors) was above a .250 - something the team hasn't seen often this season.

Junior Kathryn Turner contributed a .387 attacking percentage and Linda Zhang helped with 42 assists in the match.

The Quakers were not entirely surprised by their performances; they had put in the work this preseason. And the new editions to the team, including Julia Swanson, have had standout performances.

"A lot of the freshmen came in ready to play at the college level," Carr said. "They all just really took off."

Swanson helped the team with 11 kills, right behind Turner who led the team with 16 kills and senior Laura Black, who had 14.

"Against Temple we just put everything together," Carr said. "We were able to switch people of any class in and out of the game."

In the next round the team fell short against Albany, 3-1.

"We weren't exactly flowing as well as I would have liked," Carr said. "I mixed up the lineup in the first two games and we couldn't really get back into it after that."

Meanwhile, the Danes were on top of their game, winning 30-23, 30-28, 27-30, 30-27.

Ashley Crenshaw hurt Penn with 19 kills and Amanda Cowdrey was right behind her with 15.

Turner was the second-leading Quaker with 16 kills and three block assists. Swanson played strongly as well, with 18 kills and 12 digs.

"I will take that loss, because I was trying out new things," Carr said.

In the last match of the day, the Quakers faced Quinnipiac. Though the Bobcats were a slightly less-skilled team, the Quakers did not take anything for granted.

"We were able to switch our whole lineup in and out of the game," Carr said.

The team defeated the Bobcats 3-0, breezing by in all three games, 30-18, 30-17, 30-17.

Adding to the success, Turner and senior Linda Zhang earned All-Tournament honors for their performances. Overall Turner had 32 kills while Zhang had 88 assists in the two matches they played. Swanson recorded 29 kills and 26 digs.

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