DOVER, Del. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team fell to Georgetown, 3-0, in its opener at the Delaware State Tournament. The two-day event continues tomorrow on the DSU campus.
 
Set scores were 27-25, 25-22, 25-19.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Sophomore Claire Deller led Penn's attack on Friday with seven kills, hitting .583 on her 12 attacks.
 
*Three players had six kills in the match: junior Ella Green and freshmen Zada Sanger and Bella Rittenberg.
 
*Freshman libero Elsa McDermott had a team-high seven digs, while senior Julia Bradshaw had six and sophomore Anna Shohfi had five.
 
*Shohfi went the distance at setter and had 21 assists as well as a team-leading two block solos.
 
*Rittenberg also had four service aces, leading all players across both teams.
 
*Three Hoyas reached double digits in kills: Grace Albaugh (11), Mary Grace Goyena (11) and Peyton Wilhite (10). Emily Wen had 28 assists, while Karis Park had 19 digs and Kamryn Lee-Caracci led all players with four block solos.
 
How It Happened
Penn used a five-point run early in the match to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead, the run aided by two Rittenberg service aces. The teams traded points to 13-10, at which point Georgetown went on a 4-1 that tied things up at 14-14. However, kills by Green and Deller spurred a three-point Penn run to 17-14. The Hoyas got back level at 19-19 but couldn't push ahead, Penn winning the next two points. The Quakers held that lead to set point at 24-22, but GU staved both of them off, and after a Rittenberg kill the Hoyas again leveled things on an Albaugh kill. It was Goyena who ended it at that point, recording kills on the next two points to give GU the 27-25 win. Deller had five kills in the set, hitting .625, while Green and Rittenberg had three each.
 
Set 2 was 5-4 in Georgetown's favor when the Hoyas reeled off five straight and eight of the next nine points for a 13-5 advantage. It was still 16-9 when Penn used net defense and a pair of Rittenberg aces for a six-point run. A Wilhite kill got GU back on the board, but kills by Green, Deller and Shohfi pushed the Quakers in front 19-17. In all, it was a 10-1 run that pushed the Red and Blue in front. The teams traded the next four points, before the Hoyas reeled off five straight points for a 24-21 lead. Sanger staved off one set point with a kill, but GU won the next point to take the set.
 
Penn used a fast start in the third set, scoring seven straight points to turn a 3-3 tie into a 10-3 lead. However, GU won the next two points, five more after a Sanger kill, then six more after a Sanger attack ended in a Hoya block error. In all, Georgetown's run was 15-3 and left the Hoyas with an 18-13 lead. The teams essentially traded points the rest of the way, Penn never getting closer than four. Sanger had three kills in the set.
 
Up Next
Penn is in action twice tomorrow, facing tournament host Delaware State at 1:30 p.m. and immediately following up with NJIT at 4 p.m.