NEW YORK CITY – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team earned its second straight win in Ivy League play on Friday night, defeating Columbia 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19). With the win the Quakers leveled their Ivy record at 2-2 and improved to 5-8 overall. Columbia fell to 4-9 overall, 1-3 in Ivy play.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The win was Penn's first on the road this season; prior to tonight the Quakers were 0-7 away from The Palestra.

*Penn hit .284 on the night, its best hitting percentage since hitting .285 at Temple on September 18.
 
*Junior captain Autumn Leak led the Quakers with 12 kills on Friday night, hitting .276 on the night.
 
*Senior captain Margaret Planek had 10 kills, hitting .421 on the night, and also had four blocks (1s/3a).
 
*Freshman Ella Green entered Friday night's match with just eight kills this season in three appearances. She had 11 at Columbia, hitting .242, and also tied for third among Penn players with eight digs.
 
*Junior Madeline McGregor hit .391 on Friday night, dialing up nine kills without an error.
 
*Senior Kylie Kulinski and sophomore Jo Armstrong shared setter duties on Friday night, Armstrong finishing the night with 24 assists and eight digs and Kulinski with 21 assists and four digs. Both also had a service ace.
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari was again a factor at the net both on offense and defense, with seven kills and a team-high six blocks (2s/4a).
 
*Junior libero Caroline Douglas led Penn with 19 digs and two service aces on Friday night.
 
How It Happened
Penn scored four straight points early in the first set, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead and never trailing again. The advantage continued to grow until it was seven, at 16-9, and while Columbia used one three-point run to get within four at 19-15 the Quakers were content to trade points to get to 24-19. The Lions staved off the first three set points, forcing a Penn timeout, and then Green—who had six kills and hit .455 in the set—finished it with a kill.
 
The second set was tied, 8-8, when kills by Green and Leak sandwiched a bad set by Columbia to put the Quakers up by three. The teams went back-and-forth for several points after that, until a 4-1 Lions run turned an 18-15 deficit into a 19-19 tie. However, kills by Planek and McGregor put Penn back in front and was the start of a 4-1 run to push the visitors in front 23-20. Columbia made it 23-21, but kills by Fornaciari and Leak—both of whom had four kills in the set—gave the Quakers a 2-0 lead in sets.
 
Columbia raced out to a 10-3 lead in the third set, but after a timeout Penn brought it back to 12-10. The Lions replied with three straight points to regain control, but a pair of Green kills sparked a 7-2 Red and Blue run that tied things at 17-17. The teams then tied at 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 before the hosts took advantage of two Penn errors to score the set's final three points and stay alive.
 
Penn learned its lesson. The Quakers scored four of the first five points in the fourth set, eventually building its lead to 9-4. Columbia clawed back within three a few times, but at 11-8 the Red and Blue went on a four-point run to gain some separation and force a Lions timeout. Penn was able to essentially trade points with their hosts the rest of the way, Columbia never getting closer than four.
 
Up Next
Penn travels across the Empire State tonight and completes the Ivy League weekend at Cornell, which dropped a 3-0 decision to Ivy front-runner Princeton on Friday night. The Quakers and Big Red will meet on Saturday at 5 p.m.