PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's volleyball team hits the court for the first time this season when they travel to Washington, D.C. for the Georgetown Classic. The Quakers will play four matches over two days against George Mason, Georgetown, Norfolk State, and UNC-Wilmington. Head coach Iain Braddak will be coaching his first games for Penn this weekend. 

"I walk onto campus everyday and get the chills. I'm extremely grateful to be here and just feel a profound sense of responsibility and excitement to be able to coach for Red and Blue," said Braddak. "The most important thing for us is to stick to our game plan, to execute at the highest level of our abilities, and really just show our opponents what Penn volleyball is about."

The Quakers return five starters plus a libero from last season. Those starters include second-team All-Ivy selection Parker Jones and 2016 honorable mention All-Ivy selection Courtney Quinn as well as Brooke Behrbaum, Taylor Cooper, Caroline Furrer, and Raven Sulaimon.
 
The Schedule

* Tournament Central

Friday, August 31

Penn (0-0) vs. George Mason (0-2) – 10 a.m. | Live Stats

Series Information
Records: Penn leads 4-2 | Last meeting: 2017 (Penn, 3-0)

* The Quakers will play the Patriots in the opening weekend for the third time in the past four years. Penn has taken each of the previous meetings. Last season, Parker Jones, Courtney Quinn, and Brooke Behrbaum combined for 26 kills en route to a 3-0 sweep at the George Mason Invitational.

Previewing George Mason

* George Mason returns eight letter winners including three starters plus a libero. The Patriots fell in both of their opening matches last weekend, losing by a combined score of 6-1 to American and Howard. Leading the team in kills and digs thus far is freshman outside hitter, Siron Hardy.

The Patriots finished 6-21 last season going 2-12 in the A-10.

Penn (0-0)  vs Georgetown (2-2) – 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video

Series Information
Records: Penn trails 5-12| Last meeting: 2014 (Georgetown, 3-0)

* Friday's match between the Quakers and Hoyas will be the first meeting since 2014 and just their second since 2004, a 3-0 Penn win.

Previewing Georgetown

* This will be a battle of first year head coaches. Like Braddak, Hoyas head coach Tony Rens enters his first season with the team as well. The Hoyas split four matches last weekend at the Hyatt Regency Invitational which included wins over Idaho State and Winthrop. 11 letter winners return for Georgetown including First Team All-Big East and AVCA All-East Region selection, Symone Speech. Speech already has 51 kills in 2018.

The Hoyas went 8-22 with a 2-16 record in the Big East last season. 

Saturday, September 1
Penn (0-0)  vs Norfolk State (0-0) – 10 a.m. | Live Stats
 
Series Information
Records: Penn leads 1-0| Last meeting: 2013 (Penn, 3-2)

* The last time these two teams played was 2013 at the Villanova Classic where the Red and Blue made a comeback for the ages. After losing the first two games, the Quakers fought back to take the ensuing three 25-16, 25-18, 15-10.  This time around, both squads are heading into their first weekend of action.

Previewing Norfolk State

* Norfolk State will put out a relatively new line-up from a season ago. With the loss of four seniors and a star-freshman, the Spartans lost nearly 70 percent of its production in terms of digs and 72 percent of the team's total block production. However, Taylor Eichelberger, the team's top hitter from a year ago returns. Eichelberger set a school record for most kills (28) in a match last season.
 
The Spartans went 3-23 in 2017, going winless in the MEAC.
 
Penn (0-0)  vs UNC-Wilmington (0-3) –  2 p.m. | Live Stats 

Series Information
Records: Penn trails 0-1 | Last meeting: 1995 (UNC-Wilmington, 3-0)

* Saturday's match between Penn and UNC-Wilmington will be the first between the two teams in 23 years.

Previewing UNC-Wilmington

* UNCW is 0-3, but two of its losses are against teams ranked in the NCAA's top-25. The Seahawks return 13 letter winners from last season, including five starters. Sophomore Brynn Montgomery, who earned CAA All-Rookie honors last year, is tied for the team-lead in kills with 17.

In 2017, the Seahawks finished 11-17, including 5-11 in the CAA.