PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team has one final tune-up before Ivy League play starts next weekend. That happens on Saturday, when the Quakers make the short trip to North Broad to participate in Temple University's City Classic. The four-team event at McGonigle Hall includes the host Owls, fellow city rival Villanova, and the team that Penn will open Ivy play with next Friday (Princeton).
 
MATCH 8 – PENN vs. TEMPLE
Saturday, Sept. 18 | 11 a.m.
Video Stream (ESPN+) | Live Stats
 
MATCH 9 – PENN vs. VILLANOVA (at Temple)
Saturday, Sept. 18 | 3 p.m.
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+!
 
About Temple
The Owls (3-5) were at Towson's Tiger Invitational last weekend, falling to host Towson and Norfolk State but defeating Lehigh 3-0. Temple's other wins came over LIU (3-0 on September 4) and Rider (3-2 on August 27).
 
About Villanova
The Wildcats (6-3) went unbeaten at the Northeastern tournament in Boston last weekend, beating the host Huskies in five before sweeping Bryant and Harvard. Nova has also swept Rider and Delaware this season and toppled Rider in four on the opening weekend.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*After starting the season 3-0, the Quakers enter Saturday's matches trying to snap a four-match losing streak that was extended Tuesday night when Penn took a 3-1 loss at Lehigh.
 
*The Red and Blue split the first two sets with the Mountain Hawks and had a set point in the third at 25-24 before falling 27-25. That third set, by the way? Bananas. It had 16 ties and 12 lead changes.
 
*Junior captain Autumn Leak had another outstanding night in the Valley, tying a career high with 21 kills and hitting .421. For the season, she has more than twice as many kills as any of her teammates (120) and is hitting .312.
 
*Leak's career high for kills in a match was 15 entering the season. She has already surpassed that number five times in 2021 and has reached at least 20 kills in three of the team's seven matches so far.
 
*Leak 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 last weekend's DePaul Invitational.
 
*Penn's trip to Chicago last weekend 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 lost in four to Akron and DePaul in Chicago; in both of those matches, the Quakers won the first set but couldn't sustain the momentum.
 
*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.
 
*Planek had 23 kills at DePaul and was particularly effective in the finale against the host Blue Demons, compiling 10 kills (with just one error) and coming up with four block assists. She is currently second on the team with 55 kills.
 
*Freshman setter Sydney Ormiston has made an immediate impression in the lineup. She was all-tournament and Ivy League Rookie of the Week following her debut in the Sheraton University City Invitational, and she currently leads the Quakers with 176 assists.
 
*Kulinski has also seen time in the setter role and has 65 assists.
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari leads Penn in block solos (4) and total blocks (18), followed closely in the latter category by sophomore Emerson Flornes (0-17—17). Planek has 14 block assists while McGregor has 13.
 
*Fornaciari has also been an opportunistic offensive player; she is fourth with 32 kills but is hitting a solid .353. McGregor is just ahead of her with 34 kills, while sophomore Madison Risch has 31 and Flornes has 26.
 
*Junior Caroline Douglas—who has stepped into the libero spot in place of injured senior captain Carmina Raquel—leads Penn with 101 digs so far. Freshman Kat Alexander also saw time in the libero spot on Tuesday at Lehigh.
 
*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.
 
*Penn has perfect balance across its four classes, with each of them boasting five members.