October 31, 2011

An ode to the streak

It took a trip to Rhode Island, a driving rainstorm, a soggy grass field and a scrappy Brown team to end the Penn football’s team historic Ivy League winning streak at 18 games.

But the Quakers, who are still very much in contention for at least a piece of their third straight Ivy League championship despite Saturday’s 6-0 loss to Brown, should certainly be commended for producing the second longest winning streak in the conference’s storied history.

Here’s a look back at some of the games that helped create “The Streak.”

Nov. 22, 2008: In their final game of the 2008 season, Penn rebounds from a devastating loss to Harvard to beat Cornell in Ithaca. The Quakers barely miss out an Ivy League title but this game still sees head coach Al Bagnoli win his 200th game and kicker Andrew Samson set a Penn record with 16 field goals on the season. At the time, however, no one could have imagined the win would also be the first of 18 straight against Ivy opponents.

Oct. 3, 2009: After starting the following season with two nonleague losses, the undermanned Quakers hold off Dartmouth on the road, 30-24. It was Penn’s first win of the season – and win No. 2 in the streak.

Oct. 31, 2009: The fifth win of the streak comes in dramatic fashion as Penn beats Brown in overtime, 14-7. It was the Quakers’ first OT win in their last seven tries.

Nov. 14, 2009: The Quakers’ seventh straight Ivy victory is one of their biggest in recent memory as they win at Harvard, 17-7, to claim a share of their 14th league title and first since 2003. They’d capture the outright championship – and perfect Ivy season – the following week with an easy victory over Cornell.

Oct. 2, 2010: Penn picks up right where it left off from a year ago, beating Dartmouth in its Ivy League opener, 35-28, in overtime. Quarterback Billy Ragone scores four times in the shootout as Penn’s streak moves to nine games.

Oct. 23, 2010: In a battle of Ivy unbeatens, Penn extends its Ivy winning streak to 11 games with a 27-20 win over Yale at the Yale Bowl. The Quakers score 20 unanswered points in this one and then hold on for the win.

Nov. 20, 2010: A dominant season ends with a 31-7 rout of Cornell, the 15th Ivy League championship in school history, and the second consecutive perfect conference record. Heading into a new year, the streak stands at 15 games.

Oct. 1, 2011: Penn begins a season-long trend of coming from behind, beating upstart Dartmouth, 22-20, with a TD with 17 seconds left. The Ivy-opening win pushes the streak to 16.

Oct. 15, 2011: Penn once again triumphs on the strength of game-winning drive, spoiling Columbia’s upset bid in the final minute. The 27-20 victory pushes the streak to 17 and also ties a school record with the program’s 12th straight Ivy road win.

Oct. 22, 2011: The final win of the streak may just be one of the most impressive ones as Penn erupts for 27 fourth-quarter points to hand a very good Yale team a 37-25 loss. Fittingly, another milestone is met on this day as Bagnoli becomes the third coach to ever win 100 Ivy League games.

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October 19, 2011

Wharton grads buy 76ers

Joshua Harris (second from left), David Blitzer (fourth from left) and Art Wrubel (far right) are three of the new Sixers owners that went to Penn.

On the campus where he once went to college, Wall Street investor Joshua Harris W’86 was introduced to the Philadelphia media this week as a new owner of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harris is part of a large ownership group that includes David Blitzer W’91 and, according to one report, four other Penn graduates. Art Wrubel W’87 and Marc Leder W’83 are two of them. Philadelphia native Will Smith is also an investor in the NBA franchise (although sadly, the Hollywood mega-star is not a former Quaker).

The sale had been in the works for a while but was not made official until Harris and others spoke on the floor of the Palestra, with 76ers championship banners hanging in the background.

And now that Harris, Blitzer and others have control of the team – which had been owned by Comcast-Spectacor since 1996 – they unveiled a series of moves they hope will restore confidence in the relatively dormant franchise. Among them:

Harris could not talk specifically about players or other on-court issues because of the NBA lockout but he did throw his support behind current head coach Doug Collins. The Wharton alum also boasted about the quality of fans in Philly, which he first began to see when he got to Penn in 1982 (the same season, he notes, that the Sixers last won an NBA championship).

The optimism abounding from the Sixers’ new ownership group has already been met with some cynicism from those who see the NBA as a gloomy league, especially in the midst of a lockout that has frustrated fans. But, for now, the Penn grads seem hopeful they will be able to put people back into the seats and eventually turn the Sixers back into a championship team.

Go Quakers! I mean, go Sixers!

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October 11, 2011

This Day in Penn History – 1974

Last spring Adolph “Beep Beep” Bellizeare Jr. C’75 – one of the best football players in Penn history – died at the age of 58.

In what amounted to a brilliant career during something of a down period (Penn didn’t win an Ivy League title throughout the 1970s), Bellizeare amassed a school-record 4,004 all-purpose yards. He also ranks near the top of Penn’s all-time list in career rushing touchdowns (30) and career rushing yards (2,155).

By all accounts, however, statistics alone don’t do the man justice. Perhaps the ex-player – who, in addition to his terrific ball-carrying abilities, was among the premier punt returners in the nation during his time at Penn – was best described in this excerpt from an old Harvard Crimson article:

Ivy League followers know Bellizeare. They recognize the Braintree High product not by his number but by his streak–the streak a 4.4 second 40-yard runner leaves when he departs from the backfield or blasts off from deep in his own ground transforming normally fair-caught punts for 60 yards and a t.d.

Sportswriters know everything about Bellizeare from the confident fist thrust in the air before he crosses the 50 yard line to his colorful nickname, Beep-Beep, an epithet so often said that you tend to forget that it was the Roadrunner who originally claimed the title and not Bellizeare himself.

And most importantly, the coaches know Bellizeare. It didn’t take long for Coach Joe Restic to notice the 170-pound running back two years ago when Bellizeare ate up 203 yards and pulled down two touchdown passes. “He’s the most explosive running back that you’ll see on the Stadium this season,” Restic said after he made Bellizeare’s acquaintance.

Cornell coach Jack Musick is familiar with Penn’s Super Gnat. “You can spend 15 minutes with him in a phone booth and never touch him,” the Big Red authority acknowledged.

High praise, indeed.

And on this day in Penn history – Oct. 12, 1974 – Bellizeare showed why he was so highly regarded, gaining a total of 174 yards and scoring two touchdowns in a 28-28 tie against Cornell. Trailing 21-14 late in the first half, Bellizeare, who at the time was the nation’s leading punt returner, tied the game with a 57-yard touchdown burst after fielding a punt in heavy traffic. Watch the clip of the play above (courtesy of the great letsgoquakers.com) to see how absurdly fast the man nicknamed after the Road Runner once was.

And may he rest in peace.

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October 6, 2011

Can Penn’s fall-sport dominance continue?

For the Penn athletic teams, this fall’s Ivy League season has begun to mixed results. The football team shook off two straight nonleague losses to kick off its quest for a third consecutive conference title with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Dartmouth; the men’s soccer team (5-4-1 overall) dropped its league opener, at home, to Cornell; the women’s soccer team lost to Harvard but followed that up with a home triumph over Cornell to move to 1-1 in the league and an impressive 8-2 overall; and the volleyball team has started off 1-2 in the league and 5-8 overall.

For all of these teams, winning the Ivy League will be a difficult task as it always is – which is why last year’s accomplishments were so remarkable. In the fall of 2010, Penn captured league championships in football, women’s soccer, volleyball and sprint football to set a school record for the number of titles in one season. And even though the men’s soccer team failed to capture a league crown, it enjoyed a memorable run to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked to some of the school’s fall-sport coaches to get their take on what it was like to be part of such a historic accomplishment last year and what it means going into a new season. Here’s what they said:

AL BAGNOLI, football coach

We try to follow all the sports and we pull for everyone. I think it’s good. It shows the cross-section of people here that are supported and funded. And we’re always trying to catch Princeton overall. It’s healthy for the school. I think it shows all the recruits the support and the opportunities that are out there.

RUDY FULLER, men’s soccer coach

It just shows the support we get from the University and the athletic administration. I think we’ve got a great group of coaches in the department right now. And we do feed off each other. We’re competitive people but in a good-natured way. We support each other. We want to see all the programs do well. It was a lot of fun last year, and we had some success in the winter and spring, as well. It was enjoyable to be a part of.

DARREN AMBROSE, women’s soccer coach

I think it makes you really proud of Penn and the athletic department. It’s a credit to all the coaches and administrators for getting the environment right and providing the resources. We’re always pushing the envelope here. Being in that kind of environment, it breeds a positive attitude and it breeds more success. You look around Penn and the facilities just opened, and you know the expectations continue to be Ivy championships. It’s a great place athletically for coaches and student-athletes at the moment.

KERRY CARR, volleyball coach

I absolutely love it. It’s really fun. We have a really special relationship with the football team. Every time we’ve won a title, they’ve won a title. We definitely are on the same wavelength. We feed off each other, we really do. I think success in one sport helps recruiting in another. And I love it when all the other teams are on the [Daily Pennsylvanian] sports page with us and everyone is winning. It’s definitely not a competition between sports. The more, the merrier. The more Ivy League championships we have, the better for the school.

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September 27, 2011

Historic night at historic gym

A sold-out Palestra, right as the "Battle for I-95" tips off

Since opening in 1927, the Palestra has been home to iconic games, legendary players and some of basketball’s most memorable moments.

On Sunday, another piece of history was added to college basketball’s most historic gym when a few of the planet’s biggest NBA stars descended upon Penn’s campus to play in an all-star exhibition game.

In the much-hyped contest dubbed the “Battle for I-95,” – created by Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony and Philadelphia’s Hakim Warrick to raise money for charity, keep NBA players active during the lockout and juice up a rivalry between Philly and Baltimore hoopsters – spectators filled Penn’s home gym to watch the show.

And a show is what they got.

Fans jumped out of their back-less seats when there were alley-oops on three consecutive possessions (you don’t see that in the Ivy League), booed lustily any time mega-star LeBron James touched the basketball and cheered heartily when the “Team Philly” squad made up of mainly city natives and former Big 5 standouts “upset” a team that included Anthony, James and fellow NBA superstar Chris Paul.

Of course, any basketball aficionados in attendance may have been offended by the complete lack of defense, passing and hustle, and the Palestra’s usual occupants were probably wishing for a February Ivy League game when the heat inside the gym became oppressive. (One extra gripe from my end: I wish all of the city’s Division I schools were represented on “Team Philly” – not just Villanova, Temple and La Salle.)

But the game didn’t bill itself as any more or any less than it was – and, in the end, seeing LeBron James and others inside the Palestra seemed to be a thrill, especially for Penn students and NBA junkies.

“It’s exciting for Philadelphia, the Penn community, our student body, Big 5 basketball, even NBA basketball,” said Penn men’s basketball coach Jerome Allen, who helped organize the event. “I think the biggest thing is kids get the opportunity to see young men they idolize up close and personal – because there really isn’t a bad seat at the Palestra.”

The creaky old gym certainly served as an interesting backdrop for modern-day superstars, and it’s not often an arena that holds less than 10,000 people is the site for such worldwide talent.

A look at the Palestra's new video board from the opposite end (photo courtesy of Dan McQuade)

But the Palestra can adapt to anything because, as Allen points out, it’s a great place to watch a game. And the new, giant video board showed the gym is capable of evolving technologically, while maintaining its historic identity.

Even still, the Palestra is called the “Cathedral of College Basketball” for a reason. The gym on 33rd street has hosted more NCAA regular-season and postseason games than any other arena in the country, and hardly anyone would deny that it is the perfect setting for college games. The “Battle for I-95” was certainly a nice showcase, but it did little to match the intensity of Big 5 classics or Penn-Princeton thrillers.

Perhaps Palestra P.A. man Rich Kahn said it best in a Daily Pennsylvanian article on what he thought it would be like to call a game with such high-profile athletes.

“At the end of the day,” Kahn told the DP, “it doesn’t replace the thrill of college basketball.”

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September 19, 2011

Highlighting some of the best games of Penn’s 2011-12 basketball schedule

Zack Rosen and Penn will play six teams that qualified for last year's NCAA tournament, including a Temple team led by Juan Fernandez, right.

College basketball season is still nearly two months away, but Penn hoops fans got a glimmer of excitement today when the program officially unveiled its schedule. You can find the complete list of games here but below I’ve provided some highlights of what looks to be one of the best/most challenging schedules in at least a few years:

Nov. 11 – Penn at UMBC: The first game of the season doesn’t pack the same kind of punch as some later games, but, hey, it’s the first game so it’s hard not to get excited. It also should be a pretty easy win as the Quakers have beaten downtrodden UMBC in each of the past two years, including head coach Jerome Allen’s first-ever win in the 2009-10 season.

Nov. 14 – Temple at Penn: The Big 5 season gets an early start when ex-Penn coach Fran Dunphy visits his former home at the Palestra. According to the Penn athletics department, it’s the earliest Big 5 game in Penn’s history. Dunphy has built an excellent program over on North Broad Street, so the high-powered Owls should be a fairly big favorite in this one.

The Palestra will welcome back Robert Morris head coach Andrew Toole, who won two Ivy titles at Penn.

Nov. 19 – Robert Morris at Penn: Another favorite son returns to the Palestra as former Penn point guard Andrew Toole brings his Robert Morris team into town for a Philly Hoop Group Classic game. It will be Toole’s first game at Penn since he led the Quakers to their second straight Ivy League championship in 2003. He is the youngest head coach in Division I.

Nov. 25 – Pittsburgh at Penn: The Palestra should be filled to the corners for another Hoop Group game, this one against one of the nation’s best teams. The last team a perennially Top 25 team like Pitt came to the Palestra (besides Big 5 rivals Temple and Villanova) was in December of 2007 when Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina walloped the Quakers, 106-71.

Dec. 3 – Penn at Villanova: The Quakers’ only Big 5 game not at the Palestra will also be its toughest at they take on Jay Wright’s consistently excellent Wildcats at the Pavilion. The Quakers haven’t beaten Villanova since the 2002-03 season and have never won at the Pavilion.

Dec. 10 – Penn at UCLA: Penn makes a trip out west to play one of the most storied programs in college basketball. The game will mark something of a homecoming for California natives Tyler Bernardini, Miles Cartwright, Camryn Crocker, but loses a little bit of appeal because it will be played at the Honda Center in Anaheim instead of UCLA’s home at vaunted Pauley Pavilion (which is under construction). Penn has only played UCLA one time before, losing 98-47 in 1987. However, the last time the Quakers played a Pac-10 team in California, they dismantled USC, 99-61, in 2003. Reason for optimism?

On New Year's Day, Penn will be welcomed by the Cameron Crazies at Duke.

Jan. 1 – Penn at Duke: Penn returns to the best college basketball gym in the country that’s modeled after the Palestra – Cameron Indoor Stadium – for the second time in the last three years. The last time the two teams met – on Dec. 31, 2009 – it was one of the most statistically lopsided games in history as Duke was ranked No. 1 in the RPI while Penn came in at No. 346, or second to last. The Quakers, who had just fired head coach Glen Miller and hadn’t won a game all season, then gave up the most points in program history in a 114-55 loss. Luckily, the Quakers have improved a fair amount since then, so this New Year’s Day contest should be a little bit more evenly matched. Right?

Jan. 13 – Penn at Columbia: Three days after the Quakers host Big 5 rival La Salle, they’ll hit the Jersey Turnpike to take on Columbia in their Ivy League opener. How they do in a tough road game could determine if they challenge for their first Ivy title since 2007. Penn has lost at Columbia’s home – Levien Gymnasium – in three of the last four seasons. And overall, the Lions have beaten the Quakers in four of the last five matchups – probably a surprising stat to those fans that remember Penn’s yearly dominance of Columbia.

Jan. 21 – Saint Joseph’s at Penn: The Quakers’ last Big 5 game of the season will also be against the only city team they’ve beaten in the last four years. Last year, in the seniors’ final opportunity to win a Big 5 game before graduating, Penn handled St. Joe’s, 73-61. That Hawks team, however, was filled with freshmen that will certainly get better this season, making this matchup a potentially difficult one for the Quakers.

Jan. 30 – Princeton at Penn: What’s this? A Penn-Princeton game on a Monday? For the first time since 1996, the fierce rivals will play a regular-season game not on a Tuesday. The game also marks the first time since 1972 they played on Monday. But none of that will matter to the fans and alums of both schools that will likely pack the Palestra for this key early-season conference game.

Will the Quakers be able to slow down Harvard this season?

Feb. 10 – Harvard at Penn: The Quakers get their first look at what is almost certain to be the best team in the league. Last year the Crimson won a share of their first Ivy League title but missed out on their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946 after a one-game playoff loss to co-champion Princeton. This year, they return every starter and look to finally get back to the Big Dance. Penn, of course, hopes to stand in their way. And if last year’s double-overtime loss to Harvard at the Palestra is any indication, this game could be another classic.

March 6 – Penn at Princeton: As always, Penn’s final game of the regular season will be against Princeton. In recent years, this game hasn’t been as meaningful as when these two teams won or shared just about every Ivy League title. But if the defending co-champion Tigers and the improving Quakers could hand Harvard a couple of losses, they could once again be battling for top billing in this regular-season finale. Penn fans certainly hope this is not the final game of the season for the Quakers and that the postseason is in next on the horizon.

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September 16, 2011

The grand opening of Penn Park

On a cool and windy Thursday afternoon, the University unveiled one of the boldest projects in the school’s illustrious history: Penn Park. The 24 acres of athletic fields, open recreational space, and pedestrian connections south of Walnut Street on the eastern edge of Penn’s campus were greeted by swarms of excited students, alumni and administrators – and met with rave reviews. I went out there for Thursday’s grand opening – a celebration that included tree planting, ribbon cutting, a picnic and fireworks – and snapped a video and some photographs. In the video below, Penn president Amy Gutmann (center) is joined by athletic director Steve Bilsky (left), the chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees David Cohen (right) and the Penn band and cheerleaders after cutting the ribbon to open Penn Park. Below that are a few photos, mostly highlighting Penn Park’s athletic facilities. Enjoy:

Penn students gather in the park's picnic area (and wait for free food).

Penn students play utlimate frisbee on one of the new turf fields. These fields will really be a boon for the school's club and intramural teams.

The Penn band marches in on one of Penn Park's pedestrian walkways.

The seats from Penn Park's new softball field offer a stunning view of the city.

As with the softball fields, these new tennis courts could do wonders for Penn's athletic programs.

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September 8, 2011

Penn women’s soccer team ready to step inside PPL Park

Penn women’s soccer coach Darren Ambrose has fond memories of his team’s 2007 game against Loyola University of Chicago at Toyota Park, home of the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

Ambrose believes the program’s next game inside a professional stadium will be even better.

On Friday evening, Penn takes on Big 5 rival Villanova in a local women’s soccer darby at the Philadelphia Union’s home stadium, PPL Park.

“To do it in our hometown against a good team that is a big rival of ours adds a little more to the game,” Ambrose told the Gazette. “We’re excited. The kids are ready, and I’m sure the game will live up to the expectations.”

The game at PPL is part of a concerted effort to form a bridge between the city’s second-year Major League Soccer franchise and the local college programs.

The Penn men’s team was not able to schedule a game at the Union’s stadium this year but head coach Rudy Fuller believes there will be some to come in the future.

“I think it’s something both Darren and I hope to see more of,” Fuller said. “We want to strengthen our ties with the Union. It’s a huge asset for the program to have an MLS team of that caliber in our backyard. So I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities to help each other. Playing games at PPL is certainly one of them.”

Ambrose

Ambrose isn’t quite as sure how much of an impact the Union – as well as the second-year Philadelphia Independence of the Women’s Professional Soccer League – have made on college soccer, particularly his program.

But the Penn head coach, going into his 12th year at the helm, has noticed all the good things it’s done for the all of the youth teams around the region.

“I have two daughters myself and they’ve been to a couple of Independence games and they know some of the players,” Ambrose said. “I don’t know if it translates into greater support and understanding of the college game but I do think it provides role models and opportunities for kids. They’re more excited about going to practice and copying things they see in games.”

Ambrose was quick to point out the difference between the country’s top-tier professional leagues for men’s and women’s soccer. While he’s been “thoroughly impressed” by the growth of MLS, he’s seen firsthand how difficult it is to sustain the same kind of growth for women’s leagues.

Ambrose, after all, served as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Charge of the Women’s United Soccer Association before the league suspended operations in 2003. He hopes the new league – Women’s Professional Soccer – doesn’t follow suit.

“It’s sad but I think it speaks of the culture,” Ambrose said. “I hope it makes it. I hope they find investors and continue to stabilize it for the future.”

For now, though, Ambrose is simply focused on the women’s soccer program at Penn, especially the Quakers’ upcoming game against a strong Villanova team, inside a 18,500-seat soccer-specific stadium.

The atmosphere, he’s sure, will be unparalleled.

“For everybody, I think it will be eye-opening in many ways,” Ambrose said. “I’m sure the adrenaline will be pumping and they’ll perform accordingly.”

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August 29, 2011

Penn football holds media day

Although its season doesn’t begin for nearly three more weeks, the Penn football team held its media day on Monday, inviting a slew of reporters, videographers and cameramen to Franklin Field to preview the upcoming season. The excitement was certainly palpable – and for good reason. The Quakers head into the 2011 campaign riding a 15-game Ivy League win streak, looking to become the first time in conference history to reel off three straight perfect league seasons.

You can find my season preview for the Penn football team in the most recent issue of the Gazette (which just went online this week), as well a brief story I wrote on media day for CSNPhilly.com here.

Below, I’ve included a select few of the best quotes I gathered from Franklin Field:

Al Bagnoli, head coach (on the team’s depth):

“You can never have enough good players. Anyone coaching finds out how quickly you can get decimated. You always want competent second- and third-string guys and I think we have that at the skill positions. We don’t have that yet at the offensive line and the defensive line. We have good players but we’re not quite that deep. So we have to maintain our health there.”

Erik Rask, senior linebacker (on the same topic):

“We’re pretty deep at every position. This is the first time that I’ve been here that we seem like a balanced team on both sides of the ball. A lot of people are coming back, a lot of people with experience. I don’t think we have one specific strength. Overall we’re a very solid team.”

Brandon Colavita, junior running back (on the team’s tailback threesome of him, Jeff Jack and Lyle Marsh):

“It’s great for our style of running. We’re power first and we really try to wear out the defense. When we have three backs that can do that and have fresh legs the whole game, it really leads to good runs and drains the clock and keeps defenses off the field.”

Luke Nawrocki, senior tight end (on the 15-game Ivy League winning streak):

“We try not to think about the streak. I’ll say we’d be pretty upset if we lost one. I’m not gonna lie to you. But we’re more worried about putting our best game forward and letting the cards fall where they may.”

Jason Schmucker, senior safety (on the Quakers’ game against local rival Villanova on Sept. 24, their second game of the season):

“Beating Villanova is definitely one of our goals this year. It’s not quite up there with winning a title but definitely for personal reasons, after coming so close in the last few years, we need that win.”

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August 26, 2011

A conversation with volleyball coach Kerry Carr

With all the talk around campus of the Penn football team going for its third straight Ivy League championship, the Quakers’ volleyball team seems to be mostly flying under the radar. But they, too, are coming off two straight Ivy titles and going for their second “threepeat” in head coach Kerry Carr’s tenure. Carr, who begins her 14th season at the helm, has won five Ivy League championships at Penn – including three straight from 2001-03 – and is the longest tenured and winningest coach in program history. Here, the Gazette talks to the head volleyball coach about “threepeats,” her toughest coaching challenge, what motivates her more than anything, what volleyball is like in Alaska and Hawaii, and the growth of her sport. Take a look:

PENNSYLVANNIA GAZETTE: What’s the mentality going into this season having won two straight Ivy League championships? You had won three in a row earlier in your tenure, so what have you told the team about the challenges now trying to go for a third straight again?

KERRY CARR: I think it’s different because in those three years, we had the same people returning. It’s a little bit different this year because we did graduate six seniors, three of whom were all-Ivy starters. We’re kind of in a rebuilding phase. We just need to be focused on getting better and integrating the new people into our team quickly and finding out what our new strengths are because we’re nothing like last year’s team.

You just have one senior in Logan Johnson – are you looking to her for leadership?

Yes, definitely. And there are also a lot of juniors on the team, with a couple of starters in that group. I think they’re all working together to lead the team from different areas on the court and off the court. They’ve divided up the tasks, which creates kind of a neat leadership model for the young kids coming on.

You’ve had a lot of success at Penn but was the one-game playoff win over Yale to make the NCAA tournament last year one of the most exciting things to happen in your tenure?

I think that was the biggest coaching challenge for me because we had just lost to Yale recently and they had seen our film from our Wednesday night match against Princeton. And then to turn around two days later and face them on their home court, we decided to go ahead and go for everything and change our defense around. It was one of the hardest matches we’ve ever coached, and as a team it took a lot of trust from the players in us to just throw everything away that had worked the match before and to try something new that we weren’t very good at, knowing that would be the secret to success. It took a little bit of time during the match for them to get going and use it, but once they did it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had coaching.

Do you ever talk to Al Bagnoli about the challenges of repeating and going for three in a row because you guys are in the same boat now, just as you were in the early part of the 2000s?

Yeah, and I also talked to [ex-Penn basketball coach Fran] Dunphy back in the day because he was the master at repeating. With Coach Bagnoli, we more joke about it because it’s funny that people think that because you won last year, this year you will win too. Both of us are faced with a very young team this year with some key starters gone. We just know how much work is ahead of us to do the same thing. The Ivy League championship is always the goal but we have so many little things to accomplish first.

So do you ever look back at all of your success through your 13 seasons or is more just focusing on the season in front of you?

It’s funny because none of that matters every season. It’s not like because I’ve won several championships, that that makes me a stronger candidate to win this one. It’s a brand new season every year. I think the most dangerous thing a coach or a player can do is rest on their laurels. And I never want to do that.

Carr was reminded how much she loved coaching when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and forced to take a leave of absence. She is now fully recovered.

Is this recent string of championships even more meaningful though because of what you had to go through in 2008?

You know, I think about that every once in a while when we get ready for our Think Pink match in October. And I have my yearly doctor visit around this time, and I think, Here we go again, is everything OK? I think I definitely have a new appreciation for being in the gym this time of year after being removed for it. Coaching 20 years, you sometimes think that maybe I’m getting too old for this or maybe I’ll try something else. But when you have a chance to be reflective in 2008 and take time off from the season and really, really miss it, I think you never forget that feeling. This is what I really, really want to do with my life. This is an important part of who I am and what I do. When the tough parts come – when you’re there until 11 p.m. on a Saturday night or when you haven’t seen your family in a couple of days – I think having that motivation of having a season taken away from you keeps you going. I have the opportunity to coach, which is a wonderful opportunity.

Is starting the season with the Big 5 tournament special for you guys?

It’s awesome. I don’t know how many years we’ll be able to continue it because every coach has their own agenda about wanting to play a tournament that weekend. But I’ve convinced four of the Big 5 schools to come back this year for at least one more run. I enjoy it because it’s something comfortable and familiar. I know who the strong teams are going to be. I know who the teams are that we’re going to play different lineups against. I know all the coaches. And when everyone gets back into the Palestra, you get the feeling that the season has started. I really hope it continues. I fought so hard for it to become a tradition but if we have to step away from it, I will press to bring it back because I think it is something really special we were able to create.

You’ve coached at all parts of the country, from Alaska to Hawaii. How does the Big 5 compare to that?

I have been everywhere! The main difference is those places didn’t have a lot of other sports, so volleyball was very well known there. Philadelphia is such a great sports city with so many other sports, so you have to actually educate people about our sport. I think that was a lot easier to do in a place like Hawaii that didn’t have pro sports to contend with. Volleyball was huge in Hawaii and was pretty big in Alaska. I have to bring people into the Palestra to see what this sport is. But, on the flip side, they’re such sports enthusiasts here that once they see our sport they say,  ‘Oh my Gosh this is an amazing sport.’ And they’ll come back again and again and again. It’s such a big reward when you do educate someone on the sport and they come see a game and they’re like, ‘Wow I never knew.’

Have you seen the sport grow over the years?

It’s growing. It’s definitely growing. When we succeed on doing things like a repeat championship and possibly a threepeat, you definitely get more seats in the gym because they want to be like, ‘What is this team and how come they’re better than other people?’ I think it’s something that starts with the Penn students and then filters out to the community. The more we do with community service and get people involved with the university, the more fans we get. It’s growing but it’s hard to measure that every year.

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