BRONX, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team saved the best for last on Saturday night, closing out the Rose Hill Classic with a 3-1 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. With the win the Quakers end the tournament 1-2 while FDU fell to 2-4 on the season.
 
Game scores were 25-20, 25-18, 14-25, 25-17.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This was Penn's fifth meeting with FDU but the first since 2006. The Quakers have won all five matches, the last three by 3-1 scores.
 
*Senior Madeline McGregor led the attack with 14 kills, while classmate Autumn Leak had 13 (hitting .276 on the night).
 
*McGregor also led Penn with five block assists and stuffed the stat sheet with five digs, five assists and four service aces.
 
*Penn showed depth on attack as Madison Risch had seven kills while Claire Deller, Emerson Flornes and Anna Shohfi all had six.
 
*Shohfi, who hit .667 in the match with six kills on nine attacks without an error, also had 40 assists and seven digs.
 
*In her first collegiate start, the freshman Deller had four block assists, three service aces and two digs.
 
*Flornes had three block assists, giving her nine in two matches today.
 
*In addition to her seven kills, Risch also had nine digs and Penn's only two block solos on Saturday night.
 
*Once again, freshman libero Abigail Reid led the Quakers with 19 digs while Kat Alexander had five. Following the tournament, Reid was named to the all-tournament squad.
 
How It Happened
The Quakers and Knights were tied two times midway through the first set, at 9-9 and 11-11, before Penn picked up four points in a row to gain a 15-11 lead. FDU never got closer than three points the rest of the set, and a kill by McGregor followed by a McGregor/Deller block combo finished things off as Penn won, 25-20.
 
The second set was tied once, at 10-10, but Penn reeled off the next three points and then answered an FDU point with four more. That put the Quakers in front, 17-11, and forced a Knights timeout. FDU scored three of the first four after that break, but Penn scored the next three to right the ship and cruise to the 25-18, second-set victory.
 
FDU avoided the sweep in emphatic fashion. It was 6-6 when the Knights rolled up a staggering 9-1 run that not even a Penn timeout could stop. The Quakers were unable to threaten after that, never getting closer than seven points and trailing by double digits most of the way after FDU expanded its lead to 19-9.
 
It was 6-6 in the fourth set, as well, but this time Penn went into 2-points-for-1 mode, gradually building up an 11-8 lead. FDU hung around for a bit, but at 15-13 Penn won three points in a row to achieve some separation at 18-13. From there the teams essentially traded points the rest of the way, kills by Deller and Leak putting the final nails in the coffin.
 
Up Next
Penn will be in California next Friday and Saturday, squaring off with Cal State-Northridge and Saint Mary's on Friday in Moraga before heading to the University of San Francisco on Saturday.