PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team is back at home for the first time in nearly a month this weekend, as the Quakers host Harvard and Dartmouth in the first full weekend of Ivy League play.
 
MATCH 11 – Harvard at Penn
Friday, Oct. 1 | 7 p.m.
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MATCH 12 – Dartmouth at Penn
Saturday, Oct. 2 | 5 p.m.
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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/)
 
About Harvard
The Crimson (4-6) opened Ivy League play with a 3-2 win at Dartmouth last Friday. In fact, Harvard has won three in a row and the last time they lost it was in five to the then-No. 13 University of Oregon. Harvard shares one opponent with Penn: the Crimson fell 3-0 to Villanova on September 11, one week before the Quakers fell in four to the Wildcats. 
 
About Dartmouth
The Big Green's loss to Harvard last Friday was just its second this season, as they are 8-2. The other loss came to Sacred Heart. Along the way, Dartmouth has one common opponent as Penn in Lehigh; the Big Green defeated the Mountain Hawks on September 3, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win in five, while Penn fell to Lehigh 3-1 on September 14. 
 
Quaker Notemeal
*After starting the season 3-0, the Quakers enter the weekend trying to snap a seven-match losing streak that was extended last Friday when they lost their Ivy League opener at defending champion Princeton.
 
*Of the 12 sets that Penn played over a three-match stretch against Lehigh, Temple and Villanova 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'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 ten matches so far. For the season, she has nearly twice as many kills as any of her teammates (166) and is hitting .283.
 
*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 on September 18, 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 that day are nearly identical to her total from Penn's other eight matches (37).
 
*Senior captain Margaret Planek had double-doubles at Temple, with 14 kills and 10 digs vs. the Owls 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 87 kills and 58 digs and tied for second with 17 blocks (0S/17A).
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari has been opportunistic at the net, with 53 kills and a .301 hitting percentage in 113 attacks. She also leads the Quakers with 26 blocks (5S/21A).
 
*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.
 
*The other setter seeing time is senior Kylie Kulinski, who went the distance last Friday at Princeton and finished the night with 19 assists, two block solos, and three digs.
 
*Freshman Paige Gillon made her collegiate debut at Temple, starting both matches on the front line. In three matches so far this season she has 13 kills, a .321 hitting percentage, and 11 blocks (2S/9A).
 
*Stepping into the libero position in place of the senior captain Carmina Raquel after she was injured during the season's first weekend, junior Caroline Douglas leads Penn with 141 digs.
 
*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.