PHILADELPHIA - With the 1983 and 2003 championship teams in attendance, the University of Pennsylvania volleyball team (5-13, 2-5 Ivy) swept the weekend by defeating Cornell, 3-1, Saturday at The Palestra. The Quakers have completed the first half of Ivy League play on a strong note and will begin the second half next Friday at Princeton. 

Inside the Numbers - Box Score

* The Quakers' success against Cornell at home continued on Saturday. The Red and Blue have now won 10 of the last 11 matches against Cornell at The Palestra. 

* Penn hit 48 kills to Cornell's 43. 

* With the Red and Blue's 48 kills, the team moves to 4-3 when they have 45 or more kills in a match.

* The Quakers out-hit Cornell, .193 to .113. 

* Penn's 137 attacks are the third most attempts this season. 

* The Red and Blue led Cornell in blocks with 12. The 12 blocks are the most that Penn has recorded in a match this year.  

* The Quakers won after losing the first set. The team was previously 0-12 when losing the opening set this season. 

* Raven Sulaimon earned a career high 17 kills in a four set match. Her previous high was 15 which she hit twice, the last time being this season against Delaware State. 

* Sulaimon's 17 kills also tie her overall career high in kills which she set earlier this season in the team's five set win over Georgetown. 

* Parker Jones hit 10 kills for the seventh time this season. Of those seven, six have come at The Palestra. The sophomore was one kill shy of a double-double last night and one dig shy of a double-double against Cornell. 

How it Happened

The Quakers came into Saturday having won their first Ivy League match of the season the night before against Columbia and had won nine of their last ten at The Palestra against Cornell. The start against the Big Red did not go as planned as Cornell took the opener 25-23. Despite being down 24-18 late in the first set, Penn gained some momentum going into the second by taking five of the set's final six points to close the gap, but were unable to complete the comeback. 

Penn went down 8-4 early in the second, but a 4-0 run sparked by two Raven Sulaimon kills tied the score at eight. The Quakers finally took the lead with an ace from Grace James to go up 20-19 late and never looked back. Parker Jones ended the set with her fifth kill of the night to tie the match at a set apiece. 

The Red and Blue once again found themselves down 8-4 early on in the third, but climbed back with a 5-1 run to take a 16-14 lead. Jones and Madison Goldstein contributed in the scoring burst. From there it was all Penn. Another 4-0 run put the Quakers up 20-15 and then it was Grace James who put away the set by standing tall at the net to take it 25-19. 

Unlike the previous sets, this time it was the Quakers who jumped out to an early lead. James and Sulaimon started what would be a 6-0 run to put Penn up 13-6. Cornell used an 8-1 run late to pull within two, but Sulaimon set up match point with her 17th kill of the night. The Quakers then watched as the Big Red serve fell into the net to give Penn the 3-1 victory. 

What's Next

The Quakers head on the road for their next five Ivy matches. It road trip starts next Friday at Princeton. The Quakers return to The Palestra to close out the season on November 9 and 10 when they host Dartmouth and Harvard.