PHILADELPHIA – After playing five straight Ivy League matches on the road, the University of Pennsylvania volleyball team is finally back at The Palestra this weekend to host Cornell and Columbia. These are the first of four home matches in a row and six of eight at home to end the season.
 
Match 17 – PENN (2-14, 0-6 Ivy) vs. CORNELL (4-10, 2-3)
Friday, Oct. 13 | 7 p.m. | Philadelphia
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Match Program (PDF)
 
Match 18 – PENN vs. COLUMBIA (2-12, 0-5)
Saturday, Oct. 14 | 5 p.m. | Philadelphia
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Match Program (PDF)
 
Ivy League on ESPN
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy matches and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
The Series with Cornell
The Quakers have won two of the last three meetings and are 4-1 against the Big Red over the last five meetings here at The Palestra, dating back to the 2017 season. These teams have split the season series each of the last two years, the home team winning every time. Last year, Penn won 3-2 here at The Palestra but Cornell avenged it a month later with a 3-1 win in Ithaca.
 
About The Big Red
Eliza Konvicka continues to lead the league with 3.69 kills per set; she has 188 on the season and is the only player ahead of Penn's Zada Sanger in that category. Her 4.39 points/set also leads the league, by nearly half a point (Princeton's Kamryn Chaney is second, at 3.82 p/s). Konvicka is also among the Ivy leaders with 16 service aces. Doga Ozalp leads the Big Red with 460 assists. On defense, Sydney Moore (59 blocks) and Camryn Carlo (54) lead at the net while Sarita Pomar (199 digs) and Ozalp (110) anchor the back line.
 
The Series with Columbia
This has been a level series in recent years, the teams going an even 5-5 over the last 10 meetings. Last season, the Lions swept the Quakers with a pair of 3-1 victories, while in 2021 it was Penn which swept, the Red and Blue taking a 3-1 decision in New York City and then following up with a 3-0 sweep here at The Palestra.
 
About The Lions
Columbia's attack is led by Hailee Watts (104 kills) and Eva Atkins (103), while Ruby van der Heide is the lead setter with 236 assists so far. Defensively, Delaney Seaman has a team-high 119 digs while Soah Franklin has nearly double anyone else on her team with 51 blocks. Seaman also leads the Lions with 10 service aces.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn is in its third season under head coach Meredith Schamun, who recently signed a contract extension.
 
*Penn is still looking for its first Ivy win, but the Ivy League didn't do the Quakers any favors with its scheduling. The Red and Blue opened conference play with Princeton at home, then went on the road for five straight matches—in a 14-match conference schedule!—against the teams picked 1-5 in the Ivy's preseason poll. Penn is home for its next four and six of the last eight this season.
 
*Penn's non-conference schedule did not necessarily feature any "name" opponents but there was some quality. At the season-opening Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial hosted by Houston Christian, the Quakers played an HCU team that is currently 5-2 and third the Southland Conference and a UT Rio Grande Valley squad that is 5-1 and tied for second in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). At the Penn Invitational, the Red and Blue hosted a Coppin State team that leads the MEAC at 6-0 after winning 23 matches last year. The final weekend before Ivy play, Penn faced a Delaware State team that is 4-2 and third in the MEAC after winning 24 matches last year, capturing the MEAC title, and playing in the NCAAs. The non-conference schedule also featured a pair of Big East opponents, Villanova and Georgetown.
 
*Freshman Zada Sanger remains second among Ivy players in kills—she enters the weekend with 178—and is second in kills per set (3.42) behind only Cornell's Eliza Konvicka (188, 3.69); Sanger's 3.42 kills/set is 13th nationally among freshman hitters.
 
*Another freshman, Bella Rittenberg, led the Penn attack last weekend at Dartmouth and Harvard, garnering 11 kills against the Big Green and nine vs. the Crimson where she hit .273. She nearly had a double-double at Dartmouth with eight digs to go with two block assists and two service aces.
 
*Rittenberg enters the weekend needing two kills to reach 100 for the season.
 
*Sophomore Claire Deller has had five kills in each of the last three matches and 12 matches overall this season. She also leads the Quakers with 10 block solos and is second with 23 blocks behind classmate Jalen Tennyson who has 25 (6s/19a).
 
*Sophomore Abigail Reid has led all players in digs in five of the seven matches in which she's started this season; she leads the team and is third among Ivy players with 4.21 digs/set. Elsa McDermott, who was Penn's libero while Reid was injured early, continues to lead the team with 139 digs (3.09 d/s).
 
*Senior Jo Armstrong has continued to run the show from her setter spot, leading the Quakers with 394 assists; her 8.95 assists/set is fourth among Ivy setters.
 
*Deller leads the team with 16 service aces, followed by Rittenberg (15) and McDermott (9).
 
*Green entered the season as the top returning player in terms of kills (200) and kills per set (2.50) while three other returning players had at least 75 kills last season: Risch (81), senior Emerson Flornes (76), and Deller (79).
 
*Flornes—who was injured a few weeks ago but continues to get closer to getting on the floor—and Deller also led the net defense, Flornes topping the team with 45 blocks (5s/40a) and Deller finishing third with 33 (2s/31a). Green had 24 blocks last year (5s/19a).
 
*Reid received honorable mention All-Ivy recognition last year after she led the Quakers with 414 digs. Her 4.50 digs/set were second among Ivy League players, third among freshmen nationally, and 63rd nationally overall.
 
*Reid also led Penn with 21 service aces in 2022. Risch had 14 aces on the season, while sophomore Anna Shohfi and senior Julia Bradshaw both finished with 10.
 
*Shohfi took a majority of the reps at setter last season and led Penn with 525 assists; her 8.20 assists/set were fourth among Ivy players. Shohfi also was third in digs (156), and she proved opportunistic on the attack with 53 kills and a .271 hitting percentage.
 
*Armstrong played 24 sets at setter last year and had 245 assists (10.21 a/s).
 
*Flornes and Green are this year's captains.
 
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