PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team is ready to open the 2022 season this weekend. The Quakers will be in the Bronx, participating in Fordham's Rose Hill Classic. As part of the two-day event, Penn will face Niagara on Friday afternoon before going back-to-back with the host Rams and Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.
 
MATCH 1 – Penn vs. Niagara
Friday, Sept. 2 | 2 p.m. | Bronx, N.Y.
Live Stats
 
MATCH 2 – Penn at Fordham
Saturday, Sept. 3 | 2 p.m. | Bronx, N.Y.
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
 
MATCH 3 – Penn vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Saturday, Sept. 3 | 5 p.m. | Bronx, N.Y.
Live Stats
 
About Niagara
The Purple and White opened the season last weekend at the Hofstra Tournament, falling 3-0 to the host Pride and Miami (Fla.) but sandwiching a sweep of Bryant in between. Kinga Wronska had 32 kills to lead Niagara, hitting .250, while Lexi Bapst had 17 and Taylor Allen added 12. Casey Brown had 37 assists on the weekend, while Kelly McArthur had 22 and Kylie Blessing added 11. Allen led NU with seven blocks (two solo), while Bella Peroni and Wronska led the way with 26 and 23 digs, respectively.
 
About Fordham
The Rams are 2-1 in the early season, sandwiching wins over Quinnipiac (3-2) and St. Francis Brooklyn (3-0) around a 3-2 loss at Stony Brook. Whitley Moody and Audrey Brown lead the attack; Moody has 56 kills already, while Brown has 47 and is hitting .314. Aria De La Rosa (24 kills, .327) and Chloe Pejouan (20, .395) provide depth up front. Megan Brzozowski is the feeder; she already has 137 assists this season. Defensively, Mallory Lipski has 43 digs while Brzozowski has 42, and Pejouan has 14 digs (two solo) while Brown and De La Rosa have nine each.
 
About FDU
The Knights were in Texas last weekend for the Texan Invitational, going 1-2 with a win over Louisiana-Monroe. Sofia Rampazzo had 44 kills on the weekend, followed by Kylie Nott (33) and Tatijana Fucka (31). Hannah Schmidt (76 assists) and Megan Bushnell (64) shared setting duties. Allegra Rivas has a team-high 57 digs through three matches, while Vittoria Bertoli has 10 blocks (five solo) and Tessa Fisk has nine (four solo).
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn went 8-15 overall last year and finished sixth in the Ivy League with a 5-9 record. In the Ivy League's 2022 preseason media poll released last week, the Quakers were picked to finish sixth again.
 
*Penn returns two of its top four attackers from a year ago in seniors Autumn Leak and Madeline McGregor. Leak led the Quakers with 314 kills in 2021, hitting .247, and has 514 kills through two full seasons of play. (Penn did not play in 2020 due to Ivy League restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.) McGregor, meanwhile, had 170 kills last year.
 
*Sophomore Sydney Ormiston had 350 assists last year and is tops among returning players in that category.
 
*Penn's top two blockers from last year are gone, but six players who reached double figures in that category return led by Emerson Flornes with 35 (3s/32a), Leak with 34 (1s/33a), Paige Gillon with 28 (6s/22a) and McGregor with 26 (1s/25a). In addition, senior Elizabeth Ford started the 2021 season at middle blocker and had 12 blocks in 10 sets before a season-ending injury shut her down.
 
*One area that is up for grabs is libero/defensive specialist. The top four players in digs last year are gone, and only one returning player had more than 100 (Leak, with 104). Expect junior Julia Bradshaw and sophomore Kat Alexander to see time as Penn looks to solidify that spot.
 
*Head coach Meredith Schamun has added five newcomers to the roster: Claire Deller, Feyi Ogunlari, Abigail Reid, Anna Shohfi, and Jalen Tennyson. Do not be surprised to see a number of them in the lineup this weekend.
 
*Although she was hired in March 2020, this will only be Schamun's second season as head coach of the Quakers. Penn did not play a 2020 season due to Ivy League restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
*Seniors Ford (11), Leak (22) and McGregor (13) are pictured at the top of this story and will serve as the 2022 team captains.