PHILADEPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Dartmouth Friday night at The Palestra.
 
Set scores were 25-19, 25-16, 25-23.
 
Penn fell to 8-6 overall and 2-3 in Ivy League play while the Big Green improved to 9-5 overall and leveled its Ivy record at 2-2.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Tough night overall for the Quakers, who had just 26 kills across the three sets and hit .146 on offense and came up with only two blocks on net defense. The Quakers also had just three service aces and committed 11 service errors.
 
*Freshman Ellie Siskin was the only Quaker to reach double digits in kills, with 10, and she added five digs.
 
*Sophomore Bella Rittenberg had six kills and five digs.
 
*Sophomore Zada Sanger put down five kills and had two of the Quakers' three aces.
 
*Freshman Emery Moore led Penn in assists (16) and digs (9).
 
*Dartmouth got 13 kills from Maddie LaFata and nine from Kauany Gutz, while Emma Engstrom led all players with 18 digs.
 
How It Happened
Penn had a nice run early in the first set Friday, scoring five straight points to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 lead. However, the Big Green roared back with the next four points to tie things up, then reeled off another four in a row after the teams tied at 10-10 and 11-11. Overall, it was a 10-2 run and it proved insurmountable as the Quakers never got closer then four the rest of the way. Siskin had four kills to lead the attack.
 
Dartmouth dominated the second set, running off six points in a row to go in front 9-2 amidst a Penn timeout. The Quakers kept trying to get back into it, getting as close as two points at 17-15, but the Big Green put down a kill and then two Penn errors made it 20-15 and brought another Red and Blue timeout. Unfortunately, the stoppage did nothing to slow Dartmouth's momentum, as the visitors ended the set on an 8-1 run to win going away. Siskin had another four kills.
 
The third set was tight throughout, the teams tying 12 different times. Dartmouth went in front, 8-4, only for Penn to come back and tie it at 9-9. Neither team held a lead larger than two points the rest of the way after that, but the Quakers would never lead again after 14-13. It was 22-22 when LaFata put down a kill to give the Big Green the lead. Penn coach Meredith Schamun called a timeout, but another LaFata kill after the stoppage gave Dartmouth match point. The first one went by the boards on a service error, but LaFata put down one final kill to finish the match. Sanger had three kills in the set.
 
Up Next
Penn is back in action at The Palestra tomorrow night, hosting Harvard at 5 p.m. Wear your pink! Saturday's match with the Crimson will be the program's annual "Dig Pink" match to support the Side-Out Foundation and metatastic breast cancer awareness.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.