This past weekend marked the first time in 2015 that each of the Red and Blue's fall sports teams were in action. With a great deal of attention focused on Penn football's season debut on Saturday, here's an update on the squads and games that you may have missed since last Thursday.
Field Hockey
September 4 seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?
Since surrendering a one-goal lead late in regulation against Liberty in their season opener, the Quakers have been hotter than any team on campus. Penn entered its Thursday matchup with Villanova looking for its fourth straight win after winning three consecutive contests by a combined 14-6 margin.
Two first-half goals from sophomore midfielder Gina Guccione and another score from Alexa Hoover put the Red and Blue up, 3-1, at halftime, and the Quakers held on for a 3-2 victory. After two days off, Penn extended its winning streak to five with a 5-2 win over Sacred Heart, a game in which Hoover registered her third hat trick of the season.
The team now kicks off Ivy League play with a Friday matinee at Ellen Vagelos Field against Cornell.
Volleyball
It was sweeps galore for the Red and Blue on Friday and Saturday.
Penn struggled to kick off its weekend, falling to Villanova in three quick sets at the Palestra, the first time the Quakers were swept all season. The following morning, the squad lost, 3-0, to Temple in the first game of the day before rallying with a sweep of La Salle to cap off the Big 5 Tournament.
Against the Explorers, senior Ronnie Bither registered 27 assists — she finished with 73 across the tournament's three contests — and five kills en route to being named to the All-Tournament team. Like the field hockey team, volleyball also has its first Ancient Eight contest on Friday against Princeton.
Cross Country
Couldn't have done much better.
At this weekend's Mainline Invitational, Penn men's cross country finished first out of seven teams to capture its first title of 2015. The women's squad, fresh off its first-place finish at the Big 5 Invitational on Sept. 11, came in second, only one point behind Villanova.
The Quakers put together the five best times on the men's side while the women saw five of their own cross the finish line in the race's top 13. Both teams will be back in action at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa., on Oct. 2.
Women's Soccer
220 minutes. Two total goals. Two draws.
Against VCU on Friday, the Red and Blue found themselves trailing by a goal after just over two minutes. Penn senior back Shannon Hennessy knotted the score at one apiece with her first goal of the season — the second of her career — and the teams played 65 minutes of scoreless soccer before ending in a 1-1 draw.
The story was much the same for the Quakers on Sunday against Towson, just with fewer fireworks. Penn outshot the Tigers, 13-10, but was unable to hit the back of the net. The Red and Blue are next on the pitch in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday when they take on rival Harvard.
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