Spikers Stumble In Straight Sets to Penn

The Harvard women's volleyball team fell in Ivy League action for the first time this season, dropping a disappointing straight-set loss to Penn at Weightman Gymnasium in Phildelphia, PA.

Harvard (7-7 overall, 4-1 Ivy) lost to the Quakers, 15-5, 15-6, 15-1. The Crimson now falls into a second-place tie with the Quakers (9-11 overall, 4-1 Ivy) and Brown. Penn's lone Ivy defeat came at the hands of Princeton. The Tigers are now the only undefeated teams in Ivy play.

Last year, the Crimson lost a tough four-set decison to the Quakers in Cambridge.

Harvard had problems with its service-game and it lost many scoring chances to misserves. The Quakers capitalized on the spikers' miscues to capture the first set.

Harvard's serving improved for the second set, but Penn was able to use its height advantage to thwart the Crimson. The Quakers wasted little time in rolling over the spikers in the third set. Penn held the Crimson to one point to win the set and match.

Housequake

The Crimson has never defeated the Quakers before, but there is a possibility that the two teams could meet in the Ivy League tournament next month at Princeton.

If Harvard upsets the Tigers today, it will be in good position to finish first or second for the Ivy regular season. The spikers will have its hands full with the Tigers, who feature a tall lineup comparable to Penn's.

In the Ivy tournament last year at Columbia, the Crimson dropped a five-set thriller to eventual Ivy champion Princeton in the semifinal match.

The Notebook: Cornell leads the nation in digs with 21.681 a game...The Big Red is also ranked fifth in the nation in aces with 3.298 a game, while Columbia comes in at 12th with 2.833...Columbia's Latonia Scott is fourth in the nation in service aces with .944 a game...In other Ivy action today, Penn hosts Brown, Dartmouth is at Columbia...Yale is playing in the Syracuse tournament, while Cornell is participating in the Colgate tournament...Cornell's Tere Duran was named Ivy Player of the Week. The senior has consistently been among the nation's leaders in digs per game.