PHILADELPHIA – Following a 3-0 weekend at home to start the 2021 season, the University of Pennsylvania volleyball team hits the road this weekend. The Quakers will be in Chicago at the DePaul Invitational, playing two matches on Friday and one (against the host Blue Demons) on Saturday.
 
FRIDAY
  Penn vs. Akron, noon (1 p.m. Eastern)
  Live Stats
 
  Penn vs. Oakland (Mich.), 4 p.m. (5 p.m. Eastern)
  Live Stats
 
SATURDAY
  Penn vs. DePaul, 11 a.m. (noon Eastern)
  Video Stream (FloVolleyball) | 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 Akron
The Zips are 4-2 on the young season, going a perfect 3-0 at the Youngstown State Tournament from August 27-28 and then 1-2 last weekend at the University of Virginia's tournament. The wins have come over Saint Francis, Pa. (3-0), Youngstown State (3-0), Duquesne (3-2) and William & Mary (3-2).
 
About Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies are 2-3 after hosting and beating Bradley and Eastern Michigan last weekend at the Golden Grizzlies Invitational.
 
About Coppin State
The Blue Demons are 3-3 after playing in tournaments at Bradley and Wright State the last two weekends. DePaul went 2-1 at Bradley, beating the host Braves and Central Michigan by 3-0 scores, and then took a 3-1 decision over Marshall last weekend.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This weekend's trip to Chicago represents a homecoming for four members of Penn's team who hail from the Chicagoland area: seniors 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).
 
*Planek had 27 kills last weekend and hit .290. She also had seven block assists, 12 digs and a service ace.
 
*Ford, who played just one match her freshman year in 2019, started all three matches last weekend and led Penn with 12 blocks (2s/10a). She also had 16 kills (.406 hitting percentage) and four digs.
 
*McGregor played in nine of Penn's ten sets last weekend and collected 10 kills, nine digs, four block assists and a service ace.
 
*Kulinski got into the setter rotation against CSU and finished that match with 21 assists and 12 digs.
 
*With the 2020 season canceled due to Ivy League regulations regarding the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, when Penn took the court last Friday against Bucknell it was the Quakers' first intercollegiate match since November 9, 2019—a span of 664 days.
 
*After being named Penn's head volleyball coach in March 2020—in the earliest days of the pandemic—Meredith Schamun finally got her first three wins last weekend.
 
*The Quakers swept through its Sheraton University City Invitational last weekend, beating Bucknell and Canisius in three sets apiece and then outlasting Coppin State in a thrilling four-setter to determine the tournament champion.
 
*In that final win over the Eagles, Penn lost the first set but came back to win the second. The third and fourth sets both needed extra points to be decided, the Quakers overcoming two set points in the third to win 27-25 and then holding off CSU for another 27-25 decision in the fourth.
 
*Junior Autumn Leak was named the Tournament MVP after her performance last weekend. That included a career-high 16 kills against Bucknell, a number she bettered a day later with 21 kills against Coppin State. Overall, the junior had 50 kills for the weekend and hit .311 to go with 19 digs, two blocks (1s/1a), four assists and a service ace.
 
*Freshman setter Sydney Ormiston certainly made an impression in her collegiate debut, earning all-tournament honors after she totaled 90 kills, six blocks (2s/4a), 13 digs, four service aces and three kills across the weekend.
 
*On Tuesday, Penn swept the Ivy League's inaugural weekly awards for the 2021 season as Leak was named Ivy League Player of the Week and Ormiston was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
 
*Playing her first collegiate matches, sophomore Madison Risch had 18 kills, 31 digs, three service aces and two block assists over the weekend.
 
*Junior Caroline Douglas stepped into the libero position after senior Carmina Raquel went down with an injury and led Penn with 47 digs on the weekend. She also had two service aces.
 
*Senior Daniela Fornaciari proved potent when on the attack, hitting .409 with 13 kills. She also had five blocks (2s/3a).
 
*Sophomore Emerson Flornes made her collegiate debut in the win over Coppin State, hitting .636 with seven kills and adding four digs and three block assists.
 
*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 a perfect balance across its four classes, with each class boasting five members.