PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team begins the 14-game Ivy League slate this weekend, making the short trip North to meet its travel partner, Princeton. The Quakers and Tigers will meet at Dillon Gym on Old Nassau, with first serve slated for 7 p.m.
 
MATCH 10 – Penn at Princeton
Friday, Sept. 24 | 7 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+!
 
About Princeton
The defending Ivy League co-champion from 2019—they beat Yale in a playoff to earn the league's NCAA bid, where they fell in the first round to Penn State—the Tigers (6-2) enter Friday's match on a five-match win streak, including a 3-0 win over Villanova and a 3-1 victory over Temple last weekend at the Owls' City Classic. Prior to that, Princeton went up to the Colgate Invitational and swept through Cleveland State (3-1), the host Raiders (3-2), and Hofstra (3-0). Junior libero Cameron Dames was the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-Ivy in 2019.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*After starting the season 3-0, the Quakers enter Friday's match trying to snap a six-match losing streak that was extended last Saturday at Temple's City Classic when Penn took 3-1 losses to the host Owls and Villanova.
 
*Of the 12 sets that Penn has played in its last three matches—in addition to Temple and Villanova, the Quakers lost 3-1 at Lehigh on September 14—the victor needed more than 25 points to win four of them, another one was decided 25-23, and yet another was 25-22.
 
*Junior captain Autumn Leak had another standout day at Temple. She had a career-high 24 kills in the morning match with the Owls, then followed up with 14 more against Villanova. In addition, she hit .307 for the day and had 19 digs (10 of them against Temple for the double-double) and six block assists.
 
*Leak's career high for kills in a match was 15 entering the season. She has already surpassed that number six times in 2021 and has reached at least 20 kills in four of the team's nine matches so far. For the season, she has nearly twice as many kills as any of her teammates (158) and is hitting .311.
 
*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 the DePaul Invitational.
 
*Junior Madeline McGregor had a strong day at Temple, with a career-high 19 kills against the Owls and 16 in the afternoon against the Wildcats, hitting .277 for the day. Her 35 kills last Saturday more than doubled her total from Penn's first seven matches (34).
 
*Senior captain Margaret Planek had double-doubles in both of last Saturday's matches, with 14 kills and 10 digs vs. Temple and 12 kills and 15 digs—tied for the team high—against Villanova. They were her second and third double-doubles this season, the other coming against Canisius (12K/10D).
 
*Planek is second on the team with 81 kills and 57 digs and tied for second with 17 blocks (0S/17A).
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari has been opportunistic at the net, with 47 kills and a .330 hitting percentage in 100 attacks. She also leads the Quakers with 24 blocks (4S/20A).
 
*Freshman setter Sydney Ormiston—who was all-tournament and Ivy League Rookie of the Week following her collegiate debut at the Sheraton University City Invitational—had 60 assists vs. Temple along with 11 digs, then added 37 assists and 10 digs against Villanova. She leads Penn with 237 assists.
 
*Freshman Paige Gillon made her collegiate debut last Saturday, starting both matches on the front line. She made an impact, too, with 10 kills (she hit .750 against Villanova) and nine blocks (2s/7a).
 
*Junior Caroline Douglas had 30 digs Saturday, with 15 in each match. Stepping into the libero position in place of the senior captain Carmina Raquel during the season's first weekend, "Dougie" leads Penn with 131 digs.
 
*Two other sophomores made their debuts last Saturday: Julia Bradshaw and Tatum DeMann.
 
*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.
 
*Penn has perfect balance across its four classes, with each of them boasting five members.