PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team met Princeton for the second time in as many nights, and after dropping the first two sets the Quakers fought back valiantly with wins in the third and fourth sets. That sent the Ivy rivals to a fifth and deciding set, and the Tigers were able to pull out a 15-11 victory for the match win.
Set scores on Saturday were 25-9, 25-20, 22-25, 22-25, 15-11.
Penn fell to 2-10 overall with the loss and is now 0-2 after the first weekend of Ivy play. Princeton got its overall record to .500 at 5-5 and is 2-0 in Ivy play.
Quaker Notemeal
*Freshman
Zada Sanger had a massive night offensively, putting down 19 kills—one short of her season/career high—and hitting .200 in the match. She also had four digs, two block assists and a block solo for three blocks, a season/career best.
*Sophomore
Jalen Tennyson also had a strong night, finishing with a career-high eight kills and hitting .429 on the night (8K-2E-14A). She also tied for team-high honors with two block solos and added a block assist.
*Sophomore
Feyi Ogunlari announced her presence with seven kills and a .250 hitting night (7K-2E-20A).
*Sophomore
Claire Deller had yet another well-rounded match with seven kills, three service aces, three digs, and three blocks (2s/1a).
*Senior
Jo Armstrong once again went the distance at setter and finished the night with 44 assists, five kills (5K-0E-8A, .625), 10 digs and a block solo.
*Sophomore libero
Abigail Reid once again led the Quakers in digs, with 19.
*Princeton had four different players reach double figures in kills: Kathleen Bishop (17), Lucia Scalamandre (13), Mariah Haislip (13) and Erin McNair (10). Sydney Bold had 21 digs while Maya Satchell had 15. Freshman setter Sydney Draper finished the night with 61 assists, 10 digs, three service aces and a block solo. Scalamandre led all players with five blocks (3s/2a).
How It Happened
The first set was all Princeton. The Tigers scored seven of the first eight points, and after Penn got back within 10-6 Saturday's host rolled up another seven-point run for a 17-6 lead. The final was 25-9. Sanger and
Madison Risch had two kills each.
The rest of the match was far more competitive.
Penn led by as much as 11-7 in the second set after a Sanger kill and two Tennyson blocks. The Tigers got back to 15-15, but a Princeton service error was followed by kills from Sanger and Armstrong to put the Quakers back in front 18-15. It was still 20-18 when the Tigers pounced. Three straight Lucia Scalamandre kills gave the hosts their first lead of the set at 21-20, and from there it was all Princeton as Ella Bunde served up an ace, Erin McNair put down a pair of kills, and the setter Draper blocked a Penn attack. It was a seven-point run and another set win, 25-20. Sanger had a strong set, with five kills and a .500 hitting performance.
At that point, Princeton had won five straight sets over Penn across the previous 22 hours. The Quakers had apparently had enough.
The third set had 14 ties, the last of them coming at 22-22. That said, Penn only trailed three times, at 5-4, 8-7 and 20-19. At 22-22, Tennyson put down a kill to give the Quakers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. It was followed up by a Princeton attack error, and then Green blocked a McNair attack and the Red and Blue were staying alive. Sanger had five more kills in the set, while Ogunlari had four and hit .400.
Princeton used a four-point run early in the fourth set to go up, 8-4, and it was still 11-8 when Penn used a 5-0 run to go in front. Deller had a pair of service aces in the streak. The teams then tied at 13-13 and 14-14 before a three-point Tigers run put them in front 20-16. The teams traded points to 21-17, but then an Armstrong kill was followed by a Princeton attack error and then a staggering four straight kills from the freshman Sanger. That put the Red and Blue in front, 23-21, and after a Satchell kill got the Tigers within one Penn got blocks from Deller and Sanger and then another from Tennyson and the match was headed to a decisive fifth set. Sanger had five kills and hit .308 in the set, while Ogunlari and Tennyson had three kills each (Tennyson hitting .600).
Penn went up 3-1 early in the fifth, but Princeton responded with the next six points to force a Penn timeout. Kills by Tennyson and Green were the impetus to get the Quakers within one at 7-6, forcing a Princeton timeout, and out of the stoppage the Tigers score two in a row to go ahead 9-6. The hosts extended the lead to four on two occasions, at 12-8 and 13-9, but a service error and a Deller kill made it 13-11 and forced a second Tiger timeout. Out of the break, a Haislip kill and a Penn attack error allowed Princeton to wrap up the victory.
Up Next
Penn will spend the next two weekends in New England, starting next Friday and Saturday when the Quakers are at Yale (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Brown (Saturday at 5 p.m.).
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
#FightOnPenn
