PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team gave Princeton all it could handle on Friday night at The Palestra, but the Quakers fell just short as the Tigers escaped with a 3-2 (25-13, 25-14, 21-25, 30-32, 16-14) decision.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn fell to 1-1 in five-set matches this season; the Quakers beat Dartmouth in five October 2 at The Palestra.
 
*Penn had 84 digs on Friday night, a season high.
 
*Penn's 32-30 win in the fourth set was its highest-scoring set this season; previously the Quakers had played two 30-28 sets, losing to Villanova by that score on September 18 and beating Harvard by that score on October 1.
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari had a career-high 15 kills on Friday night, hitting .367 which was top among all players in the match. She also had a block solo and a block assist.
 
*Junior captain Autumn Leak led Penn with 17 kills and also had seven digs and two block assists.
 
*Senior captain Margaret Planek had her sixth straight game with a double-figure kill total (14) and her fifth double-double of the season as she accumulated a career-high 17 digs. Planek also had a block solo and a block assist.
 
*Junior Madeline McGregor had 10 kills, the third time she had a double-digit total in that category this season and the first time since she had 16 vs. Villanova on September 18.
 
*Senior Kylie Kulinski went the distance at the setter spot on Friday night and had 43 assists—nearly double her previous season high (24 vs. Dartmouth on October 2)—as well as 10 digs.
 
*Senior captain Carmina Raquel led Penn with 29 digs, while fellow senior Carly Cohen had 12.
 
*Both Cohen and McGregor had two service aces on Friday night.
 
How It Happened
In a rematch of these Ivy League travel partners, the Tigers—who rolled to a three-set win over the Quakers back in late September—looked like they were going to continue the trend on Friday.
 
The first set was tied at 6-6 when Princeton reeled off four straight points to kick-start what would be a 10-2 run and a 16-8 lead. Penn never got closer than six points the rest of the set, and the Tigers punctuated things by winning the last five points for the 25-13 decision.
 
The second set followed a similar pattern, as Princeton ran off four straight points to turn a 5-5 score into a 9-5 lead. That run eventually grew to 13-3, and an 18-8 lead, and the Tigers rolled to the win.
 
At that point, Penn had played five sets against Princeton this season and lost them in 18, 16, 8, 13 and 14. Who could have ever foreseen what happened out of the break?
 
In the third set, it was the host Quakers who broke away, using a 5-1 run to turn a 7-7 tie into a 12-8 lead. That advantage grew to 15-9, before Princeton made its way back and drew within 17-16. However, kills by Leak and Planek pushed the lead back to three, and then when Princeton got within 20-19 Planek and Fornaciari had kills to make it 22-19. From there the hosts were content to trade points, and Leak's kill sealed the 25-21 win to send this match to a fourth set.
 
What a set that was.
 
Buoyed by a crowd that grew louder with each passing point, Penn used an eight-point run to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 17-10 lead that eventually grew to 19-11. The teams essentially traded points for awhile after that, and before you knew it McGregor was serving for the set with Penn leading 24-15.
 
You remember Princeton is the defending Ivy champ, right? Here came the Tigers. A kill by Julia Schner was followed by three Penn mistakes and a 24-19 set. Head coach Meredith Schamun called a timeout to settle things, but out of the break Elena Montgomery and Schner sandwiched kills around another Quakers error and it was 24-22. Timeout Penn, again. But a kill by Avery Luoma and a Penn attack error and, yup, the Tigers had made up the entire nine-point deficit to tie things up at 24-24.
 
To their credit, Penn's women didn't completely fold. They took a 25-24 lead, only for Princeton to tie. A Leak kill made it 26-25, the Tigers matched. Leak killed again for 27-26; Princeton tied again. The Tigers took the lead at 28-27, but Planek leveled it, and then Princeton couldn't close after taking a 29-28 lead as they committed a service error. A McGregor kill made it 30-29, but a Penn attack error tied things at 30-30. However, another service error by Princeton opened the door one more time, and this time Fornaciari kicked through it with a kill and the 32-30 victory.
 
The fifth set was just as riveting.
 
A set in which the winning team only needed 15 points saw nine ties including five in a row at 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, and 9-9. At that point, a Princeton attack error was followed by a Cohen service ace and a Planek kill to give Penn a 12-9 lead. The teams then traded points, McGregor's kill making it 13-10 and forcing a Princeton timeout.

Out of that break, the Tigers roared, especially Melina Mahood who had kills on three straight points to spur a four-point run by the visitors which gave them match point at 14-13. Penn took timeout, and Planek killed for 14-14. That would be the last tie of the night, however, as kills by Luoma and Montgomery gave the visitors the win.
 
Up Next
Penn is on the road the next two weekends, starting with the long road trip North to face Dartmouth next Friday (7 p.m.) and Harvard next Saturday (5 p.m.).