PHILADELPHIA – Coming off a five-game Ivy League homestand that ended last weekend, the University of Pennsylvania volleyball team is on the road for its next four matches starting this weekend. The Quakers are in a New York state of mind, on the road to Ithaca for a Friday night meeting with Cornell before traveling across the Empire State to meet Columbia on Saturday evening in the Big Apple.
 
Game 16 – PENN (9-6, 3-3 Ivy League) at CORNELL (9-5, 3-2)
Friday, Oct. 18 | 7 p.m. | Ithaca, N.Y.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
 
Game 17 – PENN at COLUMBIA (3-10, 0-5)
Saturday, Oct. 19 | 6 p.m. | New York, N.Y.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | 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 Cornell
The Big Red swept last season's meetings, taking a 3-1 decision at The Palestra and then sweeping the Quakers in Ithaca. Prior to that, the teams split in both 2021 and 2022 with the home team winning all four meetings. Penn's last win in Ithaca came on November 14, 2015 (3-2).
 
The Series with Columbia
This has been a back-and-forth rivalry since the return to play post-pandemic. Penn swept last year's matches, taking a 3-1 decision at The Palestra and sweeping in New York City. Columbia swept in 2022, both by 3-1 scores, after the Quakers swept in 2021 (3-1 in NYC, 3-0 at The Palestra).
 
Penn in the Ivy League Stats (all)
HITTING PCT: Bella Rittenberg, seventh (.325); Adell Murray, eighth (.312)
KILLS/SET: Zada Sanger, seventh (3.18
ASSISTS/SET: Emery Moore, sixth (8.32)
ACES/SET: Jenniya Lane, first (0.45)
DIGS/SET: Abigail Reid, eighth (2.65)
POINTS/SET: Zada Sanger, seventh (3.62); Bella Rittenberg, tenth (3.17)
 
*As a team, Penn is second among Ivies in aces/set (1.68) and third in hitting percentage (.244) and digs/set (14.05).
 
Penn in the Ivy League Stats (conference only)
KILLS/SET: Zada Sanger, seventh (3.04)
ASSISTS/SET: Emery Moore, third (9.43)
ACES/SET: Jenniya Lane, third (0.52); Elsa McDermott, ninth (0.42)
DIGS/SET: Abigail Reid, eighth (2.81)
POINTS/SET: Zada Sanger, ninth (3.30)
 
*As a team, Penn is first in digs/set (14.65) and third in hitting percentage (.229) and aces/set (1.91).
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn is in its fourth season under head coach Meredith Schamun.
 
*At 9-6 overall, Penn has already more than doubled its win total for all of last season (4). In addition, the Quakers have surpassed their win total in Ivy League play from last year as they reach the halfway point of the conference season on Friday.
 
*Some historic wins: Penn won at Princeton on September 27, 3-1, the Quakers' first win over the Tigers since 2015. (In that match, Penn dropped the first set but won the next three.) One week later, the Quakers downed Brown 3-0 for their first win over the Bears since 2019.
 
*Penn players have earned the Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor three times already this season; Adell Murray was the Ivy League Rookie of the Week in Week 1 and setter Emery Moore was the recipient on consecutive weeks (September 23 and 30).
 
*Penn split last weekend's Ivy League matches with Dartmouth and Harvard at The Palestra, falling 3-0 to the Big Green on Friday but recovering for a 3-2 win over the Crimson on Saturday. In that fifth set, Penn was down to Harvard 8-4 but roared back with six straight points and an 8-1 run to get the victory.
 
*Freshman Ellie Siskin was the only Penn player to reach double digits in kills against Dartmouth, with 10, then recorded a double-double vs. Harvard with 16 kills (her season/career high) and 11 digs. She has three double-doubles this season, two of them in Ivy play (also 15K/14D at Princeton).
 
*Sophomore Zada Sanger also had 16 kills against the Crimson last Saturday, hitting .343. It was her ninth game with a double-figure kill total this season and fourth in Ivy play. Of particular note, Sanger had 22 kills in Penn's four-set win over Rhode Island on September 22, the most by a Penn player since Madison Risch opened the 2022 season with 22 in a four-setter with Niagara.
 
*Sophomore Bella Rittenberg has also been a mainstay on attack; she had a double-double vs. Harvard with 12 kills and 10 digs and added a match-high six block assists, two service aces and two assists. The sophomore has nine matches with a double-figure kill total and three double-doubles.
 
*Moore has settled in as Penn's setter in recent weeks, with 310 assists over the last eight matches (10.00 a/s). She also has 83 digs and 11 block assists over that span—she had 21 digs last Saturday vs. Harvard—and over the last nine matches has proven cagey on attack with 33 kills and just five errors.
 
*Murray has three matches with a double-figure kill total—most recently when she put down 11 against Yale two weeks ago—and four more with nine.
 
*Yet another freshman, Jenna Garner, has become a reliable presence on the back line—she led Penn with 16 digs against the Bulldogs—but can also put them down as she has 50 kills on the season. She missed last weekend's matches due to illness but is expected to return this weekend.
 
*Freshman Jenniya Lane was inserted into the lineup at NJIT just ahead of Ivy play and has found her form on net defense. She had five block assists last Saturday against Harvard. Lane also has served up five aces in two different Ivy matches, at Princeton and against Brown.
 
*Junior Abigail Reid has led Penn in digs each of the last two seasons and is second on the team so far this season, with 127. (Moore has 135.) Reid had 414 as a freshman (when she received honorable mention All-Ivy recognition) and 246 last season (when she missed much of the non-conference season due to injury). Reid was second among Ivy players in digs/set last year in conference play (4.49), and in 2022 she averaged 4.50 digs/set which was second among Ivy Leaguers and third among freshmen nationally.
 
*Rittenberg and Murray were named to the all-tournament team at both tournaments that Penn played in this season, the Red Flash Classic hosted by Saint Francis (Pa.) in Week 1 and the Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square Penn Invitational at The Palestra in Week 2.
 
*When Murray was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week in Week 1, she was the first Penn player to earn an Ivy weekly honor since Autumn Leak and Sydney Ormiston swept the Player and Rookie awards in Week 1 of the 2021 season.
 
*In part, Murray earned the honor because she put down 20 kills in Penn's 3-2 reverse sweep of Siena. In doing so, she was the first Penn player with 20 kills in a match in almost exactly a year. The freshman also had six blocks in that win (1s/5a).
 
*Juniors Jalen Tennyson and Anna Shohfi and sophomore Lauren Van Wie are this year's captains.
 
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