PHILADELPHIA - With a close loss the night before to Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania (7-7, 2-3 Ivy) looked to end the weekend on a high note by defeating a team they had beaten 21 times prior to Saturday, Dartmouth. While they didn't make it easy, the Quakers found a way and defeated The Big Green 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23) marking their 22nd straight win against Dartmouth.
*Inside the Numbers
*The Quakers out-hit Dartmouth .268 to .224 which included out-hitting them convincingly in both the first and third sets, both of which were Red and Blue victories which helped the team get the win.
* Penn hit five aces, four of which came from
Caroline Furrer, compared to Dartmouth's 2.
* Freshman
Parker Jones hit a career high 22 kills in the win. It's her most since she hit 21 against Central Michigan. Jones also had her best game efficient-wise as well hitting .250, her best mark since the team's last home win against Siena.
*For the second time in three matches, freshman
Raven Sulaimon also had double-digit kills, 10. The freshmen duo of Jones and Sulaimon were the only Quakers to hit double-digit kills.
*
Kendall Covington was solid as usual. The senior had just seven kills, but for the third straight match she hit above .350, putting her season average to .358. Covington was also involved at the net teaming up with Brooke Behraum for four blocks.
*
Sydney Morton was three kills away from her season high. Morton distributed the ball very well putting her attackers in the best situations as she made her way to 49 assists. It is the third straight match in which the senior has had over 40 assists. Morton also contributed on the defensive side of the ball as she had a team high 13 digs.
*
Michelle Pereira and
Caroline Furrer once again teamed up defensively. The pair tallied 22 combined digs, 11 each.
*How it Happened
After losing a tough five setter to Harvard the night before, the Quakers looked to end the Ivy League Opener home stand on a high note. With a 21 match win streak against Dartmouth, it seemed like that would be very possible, however, it would not be easy. While the Quakers came out hot and went on an 8-2 run to go up 22-16 and close out the set with two kills from
Parker Jones, the Big Green were not going to go away without a fight.
Just when it looked like the Red and Blue would take a two set to none lead, up 22-20, Dartmouth called a timeout and grabbed the momentum in the process. Penn fell in five of the final six points as the Big Green took the second set 25-23.
Coming out of the locker room in the third set, the Quakers refocused. Two kills each from the freshmen Jones and Sulaimon put the Red and Blue up 4-0 early on. Next it was the senior
Kendall Covington that got in on the action adding two kills to spark a 5-0 run and put her team up 20-12. From there, the Quakers didn't look back as they took the very important third set 25-18.
Two more kills from
Parker Jones put the Quakers up 23-20 late in the fourth, but much like the second set, the Big Green fought back to tie things up at 23-23. However, unlike at 22-22 in the second set when she hit an error into the net, Jones stepped up this time found herself a kill to put her team up 24-23. With an error from Dartmouth, Penn closed out the set 25-23 and won the match 3-1.
*What's Next
With the win the Quakers sit at 2-3 in the Ivy League which puts them tied for fourth. Next weekend the Red and Blue will travel to Columbia on Friday who has yet to win an Ivy League match and then they will head to Cornell on Saturday who lost to Dartmouth last week. These will be Penn's final road matches before they hit a five game home stand.
