PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's volleyball team got off to a strong start in the Valley Forge Sports Invitational on Friday, earning a sound 3-0 victory over Duquesne in their first of three matches this weekend at The Palestra.
 
Penn's 3-0 win came by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-22.
 
The first set kicked off a dominant performance by the Quakers (3-1), as they tallied a 7-0 run to take a 19-9 lead and never looked back. Parker Jones notched five kills in the first set and the Quakers were firing on all cylinders.
 
The second and third sets proved to be more of the same, as the Quakers were met with more pushback but earned similar results. The Quakers never trailed by more than three points in the second before playing a wild third set that included 17 ties and eight lead changes. However, freshman Taylor Fourticq helped put the Quakers in a position to succeed, tallying 36 assists and setting up Jones (15 kills) and classmate Autumn Leak (8) to wreak havoc on the Dukes.
 
In earlier action today, St. Francis Brooklyn kicked off the event with a 3-1 victory over Chicago State, and then Duquesne knocked off the Cougars 3-1.
 
Penn will continue their play in the Valley Forge Invitational with games against Chicago State and St. Francis Brooklyn at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. In between, Duquesne will play the Terriers at 1:30 p.m.