In the 116th meeting between Penn and Cornell, the Quakers are hoping to wrap up sole possession of the Ivy League title after knocking off preseason favorite Harvard last weekend. Cornell, on the other hand, has watched as its best chances at picking up a third win in 2009 all dissolved into losses.

The volleyball team broke from recent tradition and did not split its weekend away matches - it lost both of them. The Red (6-12, 3-4 Ivy) dropped two to finish the first half of its Ivy season, losing to the league-leaders Penn (14-4, 7-0 Ivy) on Friday night, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19 before falling to Princeton (6-12, 4-3 Ivy) in four the next day, 25-14, 27-29, 25-11 and 25-21.

“[The weekend] was disappointing,” said head coach Sarah Bernson.

The Friday match was less than the Red’s best work; not that losing to the undefeated Quakers is cause for shame. Penn beat last year’s champions, Yale, and has consistently outgunned its opponents this season with a relentless attack and strong defense.

After a three-week home stand the Red are back on the road. Cornell will have its first all-Ivy weekend away from Ithaca, taking on Penn tonight and Princeton tomorrow afternoon. The Red are currently tied for third in a wide-open Ivy League race.

First up for Cornell (6-11, 3-3 Ivy) are the first-place Quakers (14-4, 5-0). Penn has paraded through the rest of the Ivy League, opening its conference schedule with five-straight wins on the road. Their match with the Red will be their first chance to play against a conference opponent at The Palestra this season.

The sprint football team completed its most exciting victory of the season with a late-game comeback against the Penn on Friday. Down by 11 in the fourth quarter, Cornell was able to spark a comeback and force the game into overtime. Cornell, which lost to Penn, 20-14, earlier in the season, escaped Philadelphia with a 27-24 victory.

The Quakers opened the contest when the Penn tandem of quarterback Todd Busler and wideout Whit Shaw connected on a 62-yard touchdown pass. The two teams went without a score for the rest of the first quarter. In the second, the Red was able to put together some offense and would take a lead into halftime.

After going 0-7 in Ivy League play last year, the men’s soccer team really wanted things to be different this year and that desire showed. The Red kicked off the Ivy League portion of its season with an emotional and physical 2-2 tie on Saturday night at Penn, a fiery match in which 11 penalty cards were issued, including three red cards. With all the game’s scoring coming in the second half, Cornell received goals from sophomores Chase Aaronson and Kyle Parsons to earn a draw against the Quakers, last year’s Ivy League champions.

The women’s soccer team had a frustrating matchup against Penn, as it fell 2-1 on Friday night in Philadelphia. This loss makes the Red 1-8-1 for the season and 0-2 in Ivy League play, while it advances Penn’s record to 5-2-2 overall and 1-1 in Ivy League standings.

The men’s soccer team looks to win against their first Ivy League opponent this year against Penn this weekend. The Red will begin playing at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Rhodes Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Red (4-3-1) recently pulled out a win against Long Island in rainy weather conditions. Senior forward Matt Bouraee and junior forward Brett Sumpio each had an assist and a goal to give the Red an early two-goal lead that the team preserved over the rest of the game by only giving up one goal for a final score of 2-1. The win gives the Red a winning record entering tomorrow’s game and adds to the team’s confidence.

“Having a winning record gives us confidence and momentum as we enter this game. It is important because we won’t enter this game feeling down,” Bouraee said.

The Red field hockey team had a historic weekend in Pennsylvania, where it extended its winning streak to six games to break the 37–year old program’s record for most consecutive wins at the start of the season. Cornell came away from the Keystone State with two thrilling victories against Penn and Lehigh.

On Friday night, the Red (6-0, 1-0 Ivy) defeated the Quakers, 3-2, in the Ivy League opener and carried the momentum through the weekend to down the Mountain Hawks, 1-0, yesterday afternoon.

Junior attacker Catie De Stio racked up all four goals on the weekend, including two game-winners, to represent the Red’s offense. Senior goalie Mel Jue had a combined 11 saves for the defense in the wins.

After finishing second in the CSFL last season, the sprint football team returns to Schoellkopf Field tonight at 7 p.m. to take on Penn.

Unfortunately, the most prolific quarterback-receiver tandem in Cornell sprint football history won’t be returning with them.

With the graduation of Zak Dentes ’09 and Michael Brennan ’09, the Red offense will look to last year’s supporting cast of characters to fill in for the veritable sprint legends. The bulk of that responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of junior quarterback Elliot Corey, who emerged last year as the successor to Dentes and his spot in the record books.

“I had been playing with Zak for two years, and I got to learn from him, and had a long time to prepare,” Corey said.

“Announce the Princeton score,” fans yelled excitedly.

“Donahue doesn’t want it announced,” came the reply from press row.

But with less than two minutes left, men’s basketball head coach Steve Donahue’s wife decided it was time for him and his team to know what everyone else already did — the Red was mere minutes away from its second straight Ivy title.

“I guess everyone else knew [that Princeton was losing],” Donahue said, laughing. “My wife yelled something at me, and I find out I’m the only guy that didn’t know. I was thinking since I didn’t hear anything, that Princeton had won.”