Stratford alumna and now University of Pennsylvania volleyball player, Julia Swanson was announced as the 2007 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

“We are very pleased that the rest of the League has recognized the outstanding talent that we have," said head coach Kerry Carr of the announcement. "And the fact that Julia was honored as Rookie of the Year shows just what people think our program is capable of doing in the next several years.”

In high school Swanson helped lead the Spartans to consecutive district championships and received several honors including all-state and first team all-district, Lone Star high performance all-star, and all-tournament at the Junior Olympics.

Now Swanson is standing out on the Quaker team and in the Ivy League. The Quakers finished their season with an overall 17-9 record and just fell short of the 2007 Ivy League Championship, losing to the undefeated Princeton Tigers. However throughout the season Swanson has been leaving her mark.

Swanson ranked in the League's top ten in kills (3.55/g), was a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week, had her first collegiate 20-kill match at the American Volleyball Tournament. She had 11 kills (.259 hitting percentage) and 14 digs against Temple in the Quakers’ first victory over the Owls in more than ten years, 27 kills on .286 shooting against Princeton, coming within one kill of tying a Penn school record for a single match, and she ended her season with another 20-kill performance against Princeton.

Information and pictures courtesy of Sam Angell, Penn Athletic Department official

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