In the world of Ancient Eight sports, there are certain things that one can take for granted. Penn or Princeton — and usually both — will be near the top of the men's basketball standings. The Crimson and the Quakers will rule the gridiron. The Tigers will reign over the lacrosse world. And recently, another safe bet has been that Penn will dominate the women's volleyball team.
Since the 2001 season, Penn (6-4 overall) and Princeton (8-3) have met six times with the Quakers coming out on top in five of those contests. Penn has now beaten the Tigers four straight times, all by a score of 3-1.
Friday night's contest at The Palestra between the two squads will be the first Ivy League contest of the year for both teams. The Tigers have cooled off lately after opening the season with six straight wins. The Tigers have dropped three of their last five games since that streak.
The Quakers, on the other hand, enter this contest with a great deal of momentum. The three-time defending league champions are coming off of a 4-0 performance at the Sheraton/Penn Invitational. In that tournament, they posted wins over Northeastern, Georgetown, Syracuse, and St. Francis.
"It was a great weekend," Quaker head coach Kerry Carr said. "We defeated three of the top teams in the East in this tournament. There were some ups and down in our play, but the team just came back stronger to combat those weaknesses every time. The experience of playing so well this weekend will give the team a lot of confidence in [its] play going into the Ivy season."
Penn rolled through this weekend's action, dropping only two games in the four matches it played.
The Quakers are led by junior outside hitter Cara Thomason. The Los Angeles native leads the team in both kills and digs. She has 105 putaways on the season, good for an average of 3.21 per game. On the defensive side, Thomason averages 3.85 digs per game.
In addition to Thomason, the Tigers will have to be aware of junior middle hitter Michelle Kauffman and sophomore outside hitter Meredith Damore. Kauffman has 73 kills on the year, while Damore has contributed 114 digs.
The Tigers will counter with junior outside hitter Lauren Grumet, senior middle blocker Alex Brown, and senior outside hitter Lauren Loban.
Grumet leads the team with 155 kills through 44 games, while Brown and Loban have added 139 and 138, respectively. They will be set up by junior setter Jenny Senske.
Leading the way on defense for the Tigers is sophomore outside hitter Jenny McReynolds, who with 227 digs, has 75 more than any other member of the team.
"We're ready for them," Loban said. "They should know we're not scared."
In addition to the Quakers, women's volleyball will also be hosting non-conference foe Juniata over the weekend. The Eagles are off to a fantastic start this season, posting a 3-0 mark in Commonwealth Conference play to go with their 16-2 overall record.
Juniata is very balanced in its attack with four players posting over 90 kills and a fifth sitting at 89 kills. Getting them the ball will be setter Carli Dale, who is averaging a whopping 13.93 sets per game.
While the Eagles will certainly be a challenge, the Tigers' first order of business is to knock off the defending league champions.
"We've really been working hard this year, especially because we feel this is our year to win the league," Grumet said.
The Tigers will get their chance to prove it on Friday night.
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