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 – TEMPLE
*Penn had 22 block assists, a season high; the previous high was 16, set at Fordham two weeks ago.
*Senior
Autumn Leak set a season high in kills for the second time in the day with 16, hitting .343 in the match. She also had three block assists, more than she had combined so far this season prior to the match (2).
*Deller once again had 10 kills, tying the season high she set earlier in the day, and set a season high with five block assists.
*Senior
Madeline McGregor nearly had her second double-double of the season, with 13 kills and nine digs, and she had four block assists.
*Junior
Emerson Flornes tied her season high of six block assists, originally set against Fordham two weeks ago.
*Junior
Jo Armstrong again went the distance at setter and had 46 assists with a .397 percentage. She also had 12 digs and three block assists.
*Two other players had a double-figure dig total, freshman
Abigail Reid (team-high 17) and sophomore
Kat Alexander (10).
*Sophomore
Ella Green had seven kills, six digs and a block assist.
How It Happened – TEMPLE
The city rivals engaged in a fierce battle, the Quakers getting to 22 twice and 21 once in their three set losses on Saturday night.
Penn ran off six straight points early in the first set, going up 11-4, and extended the lead to 13-5 shortly after that. However, Temple recovered and roared back with 13 of the next 16 points to take an 18-16 lead. A Leak kill got the Quakers back within one, but after the teams traded points to 19-18 Temple scored twice in a row for a 21-18 lead. Penn took a timeout but the Owls never let the Quakers get closer than two in taking the first set, 25-22.
Penn scored the first point of the second set, and while the teams tied five teams to 10-10 it wasn't until that point that Temple took its first lead. Penn tied it on a Leak kill, but the Owls scored the next three points for 14-11. McGregor and Leak kills got the Quakers within one, but a kill and two blocks pushed TU back out by four at 17-13. Penn came back with a 5-1 run to tie things up at 18-18, a McGregor kill drawing the Red and Blue level, but again Temple had the answer with the next three points and five of the next six en route to a second 25-22 victory. McGregor had six kills and hit .333 in the set, while Leak hit .500 and Deller hit .429 with three kills each.
The third set had eight ties and six lead changes, but at 14-14 Armstrong and Deller blocks started Penn off on a four-point run. The teams traded a few points after that, but at 20-17 Flornes had a block solo and McGregor had another kill to make it 22-17. From there, kills by Flornes, McGregor and Green ended the set and made it 2-1 in sets. Flornes had three kills, hitting .500, as well as the block solo and three block assists.
The fourth and final set was the best of the bunch, the teams tying 10 times including every number from 8-8 to 15-15. However, a Temple kill and a service ace set the Owls off on a run that saw them score two points for every Penn point until it was 21-17. A TU service error and a Leak kill made it 21-19, but a Penn service error and a Temple kill put the Owls back up by four. At 24-20 Penn staved off one match point on a Green kill, but after a tremendous point a Temple block ended the match at 25-21.
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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