PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team gave Ivy League leader Yale a great battle on Saturday night at The Palestra, but the Bulldogs made the winning plays in an important third set en route to a 3-1 victory.
After dropping the first set, 25-16, Penn came back and pulled out a 27-25 win in the second set. The Quakers then led most of the third set but saw the Bulldogs win the final five points for a 25-23 victory. That seemed to take the wind out of the Red and Blue's sails, and Yale won the fourth set 25-14 to close out the match.
Penn fell to 3-17 and 1-9 in Ivy League matches. Yale remains undefeated at 10-0 in Ivy play—becoming the first team to clinch a spot in the 2023 Ivy League Tournament in the process—and is now 15-3 overall.
Quaker Notemeal
*Yale had won 19 sets in a row in Ivy League play, stretching across six matches, before Penn won the second set on Saturday night.
*Freshman
Zada Sanger led all players with 15 kills on Saturday night, adding a dig and a block assist.
*Sophomore
Jalen Tennyson had 10 kills, a season/career high, hitting .353 on the night. She also had two block assists and a dig.
*Junior
Ella Green had nine kills, tying a season high that she originally set against NJIT on September 16. She also had two digs and a block assist.
*Junior
Kaya Johnson led Penn with a block solo and three block assists for four blocks total. She also had four kills, two digs, and a service ace.
*Sophomore libero
Abigail Reid tied for match-high honors with 18 digs while senior
Julia Bradshaw finished with 12 and freshman
Elsa McDermott added nine.
*Freshman
Bella Rittenberg once again had a solid all-around performance with six kills, seven digs, and two block assists.
*Yale got 10 kills each from Gigi Barr and setter Carly Diehl—Barr also recording five digs and four block assists—while Audrey Leak put down nine. Diehl also had 30 assists, five digs, three block assists and three service aces. Betsy Goodenow finished with seven kills, 10 digs and five block assists, while Laurece Abraham had six kills and eight blocks (2s/6a).
How It Happened
The teams were tied 6-6 in the first set when Yale used a 4-1 run to go in front 11-7 and force a Penn timeout. The teams traded the next six points out of the stoppage, but a Penn service error set Yale on a five-point run that made the score 18-10 and brought the Quaker's final timeout of the set. The hosts never got closer than six the rest of the way, and Yale sealed it with the final three points to win 25-16. Tennyson had four kills and two block assists in the set.
Penn jumped out quickly in the second set, going up 6-1, and it was 11-4 when Yale finally took a timeout. That seemed to settle the Ivy leaders, who scored four straight points just after the stoppage and drew within two at 13-11 on a Barr kill. The teams traded points to 17-15, before a Yale block and a Diehl ace tied things up for the first time in the set, 17-17. A Sanger kill was matched by another Bulldogs block to 18-18, then a Rittenberg kill and a Johnson block put Penn up 20-18. Yale responded with the next four points, taking its first lead of the set at 21-20 on a Goodenow kill. The Bulldogs had three set points, but a block error staved off one and then Tennyson and Shohfi tied things up at 24-24 to force a Yale timeout. A Green kill made it 25-24, but a bad set tied things at 25-25. However, a Shohfi kill was followed by a Yale attack error and things were level at 1-1 in sets. Sanger finished the set with five kills, while Shohfi had four to go with 13 assists and four digs. Green and Tennyson had three kills each, Tennyson hitting .750.
Penn kept the momentum going into the third set, going up 8-2 behind three Rittenberg kills. Yale was able to get back level by 13-13, and the teams traded points to 18-18. Three attack errors by the Bulldogs—one on a block by Johnson and Rittenberg—put Penn up 21-18 and forced a Yale timeout. It was a still 23-20 when the Quakers committed three errors around a Leak kill, giving the Bulldogs a 24-23 lead (amazingly, their first of the set) and forcing a Penn timeout, but out of the stoppage Leak put down another kill and Yale had stunned everyone with the last five points of the set and a 25-23 win. Sanger had four kills, while Green and Rittenberg had three each (Rittenberg adding two block assists), and Reid came up with nine digs.
The fourth set lacked the drama of the second and third. It was 4-3 Penn when the Bulldogs reeled off an 8-1 run to go in front 11-5. Penn got kills from Tennyson and Green to get back within 11-8, but Yale answered with three straight points and two more after another Green kill. That made the score 16-9 and Penn didn't have anything left for a comeback. Sanger had four kills and hit .571 in the final set.
Up Next
Penn is on the road for one final Ivy League weekend, traveling to Columbia for a 7 p.m. match next Friday night in New York City and Cornell for a 5 p.m. match next Saturday in Ithaca.
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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