PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team gave Dartmouth a good fight on Friday night at The Palestra, but the Big Green made the plays when they needed to happen and took a 3-0 decision.
 
Set scores were 30-28, 25-15, 25-21.
 
Penn fell to 2-17 and dropped to 1-8 in Ivy League play. Dartmouth is now 14-5 and remains firmly in the hunt for an Ivy Tournament berth at 6-3.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Sophomore Ella Green led Penn's attack with a career-high 18 kills. She hit .267 on the night.
 
*Senior Autumn Leak was the only other Quakers player to reach double figures in kills, with 10, as she hit .200.
 
*Senior Elizabeth Ford had a nice night on attack, with seven kills and just one error on 11 attacks for a .545 hitting night.
 
*Freshman Anna Shohfi gave way to Jo Armstrong at setter and the junior had 34 assists and seven digs on the night.
 
*Freshman Abigail Reid (16 digs) and sophomore Kat Alexander (12) both reached double figures in digs.
 
How It Happened
Penn used an early four-point run for a 4-1 lead, and for a long time the Quakers had an answer every time the Big Green tried to get back level. The lead maxed out at six (16-10), before Dartmouth reeled off five straight points to get within one. Penn held the Green at bay, however, and had a 22-19 lead which forced a Dartmouth timeout. Out of the break, Dartmouth scored three straight points to tie things at 22-22, the first tie since 1-1. The teams traded points to 23-23, then a Green attack error gave Penn set point. An Ellie Blain kill tied it at 24-24, and then a Penn attack error gave Dartmouth set point. Green saved it with a kill, and then after another Big Green point an Emerson Flornes kill made it 26-26. A Penn service error was followed by a Leak kill for 27-27, and another service error was canceled out by another Leak kill. That marked four set points Penn had staved off, but the Quakers couldn't stave off the fifth as a pair of Bomi Ogunlari kills gave Dartmouth the 30-28 win. Green had nine kills in the set, hitting .350, while Leak had five kills and hit .375. Defensively, Reid had nine digs and Alexander had eight.
 
The second set was tied, 5-5, when Dartmouth broke out with a six-point run. The run continued to 9-1, making the score 14-6, before Penn cut the margin in half with a four-point run. The teams traded points for several sideouts after that, to 18-14, before a Quakers service error set the Big Green off on a 7-1 run that clinched the set. Ford came on in the second and was a perfect 1.000 hitting with three kills.
 
Dartmouth had a 9-6 lead early in the third set before a pair of Green kills tied things at 9-9. The Big Green scored four of the next five points to go back in front, 13-10, and once again the teams traded points through several sideouts. It was 18-15 Dartmouth when kills by Ford and Green set Penn off on a 5-0 run and a 20-18 advantage. The teams traded the next two points, a Green kill making it 21-19, but that would turn out to be Penn's final point of the night as Dartmouth used three kills and took advantage of three Quakers errors for the final six points of the set and the match win.
 
Up Next
Penn is back at The Palestra tomorrow night, hosting Harvard at 5 p.m. The Crimson fell at Princeton on Friday night, 3-1.