PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team (5-12, 2-6 Ivy League) is on the road for the next two weekends, starting this Friday and Saturday when they make the long trip North to face Dartmouth and Harvard.
 
MATCH 18 – Penn at Dartmouth
Friday, Oct. 29 | 7 p.m.
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats
 
MATCH 19 – Penn at Harvard
Saturday, Oct. 30 | 5 p.m.
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats
 
Ivy League on ESPN
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy matches and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+! (https://plus.espn.com/)
 
DARTMOUTH: The First Meeting
The Quakers and Big Green went the distance on October 2 at The Palestra, quite literally, with Penn winning the fifth set 15-13. Dartmouth won the first set, Penn swept the next two, and then the Big Green rallied in the fourth to set up the fifth. For Penn, Autumn Leak had 14 kills and 13 digs for a double-double, while Daniela Fornaciari had 12 kills—hitting .417 in the process—and a staggering 11 digs (4s/7a). It was the most by a Penn player since 2001 and a number that has only been surpassed seven times in program history. Margaret Planek nearly had a double-double (11 kill, 9 digs).
 
About Dartmouth
The Big Green (10-7, 2-6 Ivy) lost another five-setter last Saturday at Harvard, falling in the fifth set 16-14. Emma Moffet had 15 kills and six block assists, while Ellie Blain and Amelia Gibbs had 13 kills each. Emma Engstrom is second among Ivy League players in digs per set in conference play (4.66).
 
HARVARD: The First Meeting
The winner needed more than 25 in the second and third sets on October 1, the Quakers winning the second set 30-28 and the Crimson winning the third 26-24. From there, Harvard closed out the four-set win with a 25-19 decision. Fornaciari led Penn with nine kills, hitting .333, and also had six blocks (1s/5a). Sophomore Caroline Douglas (16) and sophomore Madison Risch (10) led the Quakers in digs.
 
About Harvard
The Crimson (8-9, 5-3 Ivy) were led by Jaimie Rio's 15 kills and six block assists in last Saturday's win over Dartmouth, while Katie Vorhies had 13 kills.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The Quakers engaged in an epic battle with Ivy co-leader Princeton last Friday at The Palestra, falling 16-14 in the fifth set. Down 2-1 in sets, Penn blew nine set points—the Tigers coming back from 24-15 to tie things up—but recovered to win 32-30.
 
*Planek, a senior captain, tied her season high with 14 kills and added a career-best 17 digs against the Tigers, her fifth double-double this season.
 
*Planek—who has a double-digit kill total in five straight matches and 11 overall this season—is second on the team with 160 kills and 110 digs and third with 32 blocks (2s/30a).
 
*Junior captain Leak's career high for kills in a match was 15 entering the season. She has surpassed that number six times in 2021 and matched it recently when she had 15 kills against Yale on October 16.
 
*Leak—who leads Penn with 242 kills and is third with 95 digs—has already had a decorated season: she was MVP of Penn's Sheraton University City Invitational and earned Ivy League Player of the Week following the event, then followed that up with all-tournament honors at the DePaul Invitational.
 
*Leak remains third among Ivy League players in overall kills per set (3.84), behind only Columbia's Noelle Foster (4.02) and Princeton's Elena Montgomery (3.88).
 
*Fornaciari is third among Ivy League players in blocks per set in Ivy play (1.12), behind the Princeton duo of Julia Schner (1.50) and Avery Luoma (1.23).
 
*Fornaciari had 15 kills last Friday and is tied with junior Madeline McGregor for third on the team with 114 kills for the season.
 
*Senior Kylie Kulinski was Penn's setter last Friday and had 43 assists. She is second on the team with 228 assists for the season, behind freshman Sydney Ormiston (334) but ahead of sophomore Jo Armstrong (64). All three have seen significant action recently.
 
*Senior captain Carmina Raquel has made a triumphant return to the libero position the last three matches, after missing most of the early season to injury. She had 29 digs against Princeton, giving her 65 since returning to the starting lineup.
 
*Senior Carly Cohen had a career-high 12 digs last Friday and also was one of two Penn players (along with McGregor) with two service aces against the Tigers.
 
*Penn's trip to Chicago on September 10-11 represented a homecoming for four members of Penn's team who hail from the Chicagoland area: senior Kylie Kulinski (New Lenox/Lincoln-Way Central) and Margaret Planek (Oak Park/Fenwick) and juniors Elizabeth Ford (Evanston/Loyola Academy) and Madeline McGregor (Chicago/New Trier HS).
 
*Penn took team honors at the Sheraton University City Invitational at The Palestra, going 3-0 and beating Coppin State in what was essentially a championship match as both teams entered 2-0 on the weekend. Against the Eagles, Penn lost the first set, won the second, and then pulled out 27-25 decisions in the third and fourth sets to earn a dramatic victory.
 
*Penn announced its captains for the 2021 season ahead of the opener; Leak, Planek and Raquel will lead the Quakers this fall.
 
*Three of the five players who registered at least 100 kills in the 2019 season are back for 2021: Leak (200), Planek (187), and Fornaciari (135).
 
*Fornaciari also led Penn with eight block solos and 61 block assists in 2019, while Planek had 44 block assists and Leak had 29 block assists.
 
*Raquel was Penn's libero in 2019 and led the Quakers with 356 digs, more than twice as many as any of her teammates. Planek (146) and Douglas (144) were third and fourth, respectively, in that category.
 
*Raquel also led the Red and Blue with 21 service aces in 2019, followed closely by Planek (20) and Douglas (18). Fornaciari had 12 aces that season.