PHILADELPHIA - In what is a busy weekend in Penn Athletics with homecoming and senior weekend for several fall sports, the University of Pennsylvania women's volleyball team (11-9, 6-5 Ivy) started things off with a good start as they defeated Cornell, 3-1 (25-12, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24), Friday night at The Palestra.

The Quakers win over Cornell is their first win against the Big Red in the last four tries and gives Penn a three match win streak. The Red and Blue sit above .500 in Ivy League play and surpass last season's five wins in conference play. 

Inside The Numbers

*The Quakers' six wins in Ivy League play bests last year's result and Katie Schumacher-Cawley has the most Ivy League wins by a Penn Volleyball Coach in their first season. 

* Penn's 12 points given up in set one are the least amount of points give up in a set since last season against George Mason. It's the least amount given up in an Ivy League match since Dartmouth in 2015 and least given up against Cornell since defeating the Big Red 25-10 in the second set in 2010.

* The eight aces hit by Penn are the most in a match since they hit eight against Robert Morris earlier this season.

* The Red and Blue out-hit Cornell .211 to .167 and hit 54 kills to the Big Red's 49. 

* For the second straight match, the Quakers had four players hit double-digit kills. 

* Taylor Cooper made her season debut and made a huge impact. The junior captain had seven total blocks. It was one shy over tying her career high of eight. 

* Hayley Molnar set a career high in blocks as she had five. She had hit her previous high of four, three times. 

* Caroline Furrer set a career high in digs. The sophomore had 25. Her previous high was 22. 

* Parker Jones' 15 kills gives her 274 on the season. She is 25 away from having the second most kills by a rookie. She currently ranks third all-time. 

* Jones and Sydney Morton both lead the team with double-doubles. The freshman had 12 digs to go with her 15 kills while the senior had 14 digs to go with her 39 assists. 

* Kendall Covington hit 10 kills and lead the team with a .391 attack percentage. Her 10 kills on the night put Covington above the 600 mark for her career. 

How it Happened

Looking to keep the momentum going after sweeping last weekend's matches against Brown and Yale, the Quakers got off to a hot start against Cornell, a team they lost to earlier in the season. Four straight aces by Sydney Morton and another ace by Michelle Pereira put the Red and Blue up an early 7-1 to set the tone. Behind two 6-1 runs, Penn ran through the first set 25-12. 

However, the rest of the match would not be as easy as that first set. While the Quakers once again got up early taking a 7-3 lead, The Big Red fought back to tie things up at 10-10 and eventually found themselves up 14-12. Kills by the freshmen duo of Parker Jones tied things back up at 14. Tied at 21, the Quakers won three straight points to take control and take the second set 25-22. 

The third set was another hard fought set but after winning the first point, Penn then fell behind and never regained the lead. While the Red and Blue came back within two points at 24-22 with kills by Jones and Covington, it was Cornell who took the set 25-22, but Penn still had the much important 2-1 lead. 

Like the first two sets in which the Quakers won, Penn got off to a fast start in set four sparked by a kill and a block by Hayley Molnar. The lead would not last long however as Cornell went on a 5-0 run and the Red and Blue went down 7-5. Molnar once again was involved in a 5-0 run to put the Quakers up 15-12. Up 23-20 Penn looked to be in control, but not four points later they found themselves facing set point as The Big Red went on a 4-0 run to take a 24-23 lead. A service error by Cornell tied things up at 24 and then a block by Molnar and Taylor Cooper gave Penn a match point. The Quakers capitalized as Caroline Furrer set up Parker Jones for her 15th kill of the night to win the set 26-24 and give The Red and Blue a 3-1 victory. 

What's Next

The Quakers return home Saturday at 5 p.m. to take on Columbia for senior night. Penn will be looking to complete the season sweep and go for their fourth straight win.