PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team is ready to serve it up in 2023. The Quakers will travel to the Lone Star State this weekend to participate in the Molly Howard-Gerwig Memorial Tournament being hosted by Houston Christian University (formerly Houston Baptist). Penn will play three times, starting with the host Huskies and UT Rio Grande Valley on Friday and concluding with Arkansas State on Saturday.
 
This is Penn's third trip to this tournament; the Quakers also played on the HCU campus in 2009 (going 3-1) and 2016 (going 0-4). The 2009 team would later win the Ivy League title and earn the program's first NCAA Championship victory, beating Army in the first round, 3-1, before losing to top-seeded and eventual champion Penn State in the second round, 3-0.
 
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Match 1 | HCU | Friday | 10 a.m. (11 a.m. EDT) | Watch on ESPN+ ($) | | Live Stats
Match 2 | UTRGV | Friday | 4 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT) | Live Stats
Match 3 | Arkansas State | Saturday | 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EDT) | Live Stats
 
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 HCU
These teams have split two previous meetings, Penn winning 3-0 in 2009 and then-Houston Baptist winning 3-0 in 2016. The Huskies are 0-3 so far this season, with losses to Texas Tech, Wichita State and Abilene Christian at the UnderArmour Challenge hosted by Tech last weekend.
 
The Series with UTRGV
This is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Vaqueros, who are 1-2 after beating host Montana and losing to No. 17 BYU and No. 5 Pitt last weekend at the Griz's Ellesyn Invitational.
 
The Series with Arkansas State
This is the first meeting between the Quakers and the Red Wolves, who are 3-0 after they hosted and swept Little Rock (3-0), Louisiana Tech (3-0) and North Alabama (3-2) at the A-State Invitational last weekend.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This weekend's trip represents a homecoming for senior Julia Bradshaw, who hails from Houston originally and attended St. Agnes Academy. Sophomore Feyi Ogunlari is returning to her home state, as well; she hails from Heath, which is a Dallas suburb.

*Penn enters its third season under head coach Meredith Schamun; it's a relative homecoming for her, too, as Schamun played her collegiate volleyball at Rice University right there in Houston.
 
*The attack figures to be led by junior Ella Green, who is the top returning player in terms of kills (200) and kills per set (2.50).
 
*Three other returning players had at least 75 kills last season: seniors Madison Risch (81) and Emerson Flornes (76), and sophomore Claire Deller (79).
 
*Flornes 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).
 
*Sophomore Abigail 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 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.
 
*Senior Jo Armstrong played 24 sets at setter last year and had 245 assists (10.21 a/s).
 
*Flornes and Green were recently selected to be this year's captains.

*Four newcomers will make their collegiate debuts this weekend: Elsa McDermott, Bella Rittenberg, Zada Sanger, and Lauren Van Wie.