PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team fell twice on Saturday to conclude the Sheraton University City Invitational at The Palestra. The Quakers were vanquished by Providence College on Saturday morning, 3-0, then fell to city rival Temple Saturday evening in a 3-1 final that was far closer than the score would indicate.
Set scores against the Friars on Saturday morning were 25-20, 25-18, 28-26.
Set scores against the Owls on Saturday afternoon were 25-22, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21.
Following the tournament, freshman
Claire Deller was named to the all-tournament team along with George Washington's MC Daubendiek and Brittany Myers; Temple's Falanika Danielson and Taylor Davenport; and Providence's Sasha Rudich.
Quaker Notemeal - PROVIDENCE
*Senior
Autumn Leak led the offensive attack with 13 kills and a .250 hitting percentage.
*
Ella Green and
Claire Deller had 10 kills each, with the freshman Deller hitting .450 in the match.
*Senior
Madeline McGregor had five kills, nine digs (second only to freshman
Abigail Reid's 18), a block assist and a service ace.
*Junior
Jo Armstrong made her first start at the setter spot against PC and was there the entire match, serving up 33 assists. She also had five digs.
How It Happened - PROVIDENCE
The Quakers and Friars were tied seven times in the first set to 8-8, when PC went on a five-point streak to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Penn got within three points five times after that, the last at 22-19, but Providence scored three of the last four points to take the set, 25-20.
PC then used a three-point run early in the second set to take a 10-7 lead and again kept Penn at bay the rest of the way. Deller and Leak both had strong sets, each with four kills on six attacks for a .667 kill percentage.
The third set was certainly the most dramatic of the match, as the teams were tied 16 times and needed more than the requisite 25 points to decide things. It was 22-22 when PC got a kill and service ace for match point. Penn staved off both of them, though, as the sophomore Green and Deller kills leveled things at 24-24. Sasha Rudich again got match point for the Friars, only for Leak to match her, and then an Emma Nelson kill was matched again by Leak for 26-26. However, at that point Nelson got another kill and that was followed by a Penn attack error to end the match. Leak had another outstanding set offensively, with seven kills and a .400 hitting percentage, while Deller had four kills (.300) and Green added three (.286).
Up Next
Penn is back at home on Tuesday, closing out non-conference play with Lehigh coming to town. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
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