PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania women's volleyball team (6-6, 1-2 Ivy) returns home for the first time since the second week of the season when they hosted the Valley Forge Sports Penn Invitational. Driving down to The Palestra will be Harvard (8-4, 3-0 Ivy) and Dartmouth (6-6, 2-1 Ivy). The Quakers will be looking to build off of their win to finish off last weekend against Brown in which they won in five sets, 3-2. 

The Red and Blue will begin the weekend on Friday when they will take on the Crimson at 7 p.m. and then wil wrap up on Saturday against the Big Green at 5 p.m. 

Head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley will be looking to pick up some ground in the Ivy League after a 1-2 start. The Quakers will have an opportunity to do just that as they swept both Harvard and Dartmouth last season. Two wins this weekend would give Penn a winning record in the Ivy League. 

Friday's match against Harvard marks Penn's Dig Pink Match where fans will be encouraged to wear pink in support of the cause.  Funds raised for Side-Out go toward a clinical trial specifically for patients with stage 4 breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease and the least funded area of research. We invite you to support the cause and Dig Pink with University of Pennsylvania Volleyball. 

The match against Harvard will be featured on ESPN 3. 

How to Follow

Twitter
@PennVolleyball

*Live Stats
Harvard | Brown

*Ivy Leage Network
Harvard | Brown

*ESPN 3
Penn vs. Harvard

About Penn

* The Quakers will be playing their first Ivy League matches at home this weekend. In Ivy League home openers, the Quakers are 5-5 in their last ten. 

* Parker Jones leads the team in kills this season with 151 which also ranks third in the Ivy League. The freshman from Lafayette, California has won the Ivy League rookie of the week twice this season and has recorded double-doubles in seven matches. The Quakers are 5-2 in matches in which she has a double-double. 

* Also a freshman, Raven Sulaimon played in just her second and third career matches last weekend earning 16 kills and a hit percentage of .383. Behind those numbers, she could earn more playing time moving forward. 

* A team captain, Kendall Covington continues to be a solid and consistent starter in the Quakers' lineup. Covington is second on the team in kills, but by far the most efficient as she has a hit percentage this season of .359 and has hit above .400 seven times. Her team is 5-2 when she surpasses that mark. The senior has saved her best for last wearing the Red and Blue as she is on pace for career numbers in kills, hit percentage, and blocks. 

* Senior Sydney Morton ranks third in the Ivy League in assists. Morton is one of three players this season to have distributed over 400 aces. Her 42 assists helped lead the Red and Blue to a hard fought win against Brown and was her fourth most this season. Morton has been one of the best setters in the Ivy this season and the 52 that she had against Robert Morris are the third most in any match this season in the Ivy League and the second most in three-set matches. 

Scouting the Crimson

* Harvard comes in being undefeated in the Ivy League. The Crimson have won three straight in conference against Cornell, Columbia, and Dartmouth

* The Crimson come into the weekend having the highest hitting percenage in the Ivy Leauge hitting .255. They also rank third in aces hitting 1.29 per set. 

* Harvard's Erin McCarthy ranks second in the Ivy in assists as she has 10.22 per set. She replaces Corinne Bain who earned First-Team All-Ivy as the team's setter.

* Grace Roberts Burbank and Christina Cornelius were named second team All-Ivy last season.

*The Quakers lead the all-time series 45-16 and swept both matches last season which included a 3-1 win at The Palestra. 

Scouting the Big Green

* Darmouth enters the weekend being 2-1 in the Ivy League and will be playing Princeton Friday evening. The Big Green have wins over Cornell and Columbia and their only loss came to Harvard, 3-1. 

* The Big Green have allowed the worst hitting percentage this season having allowed opponent teams to just a .165 hit percentage. A strong defensive squad, they have also allowed the fewest kills and have tallied the most blocks in the Ivy League. 

* Strong defensively, the Big Green lack offensive firepower. They don't have a single player ranked in the top ten in kills in the Ivy League, the only team not represented in the top ten. Abby Kott leads the team in hit percentage hitting .280 which ranks 10th in the Ivy. 

* The Quakers lead the all-time series 47-7 and that includes a sweep last season. The Red and Blue hold a 21-match win streak against Dartmouth, their last loss coming in 2006 on the rode. Penn last lost on their home court to Dartmouth back in 1999.