ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team dropped a close, 3-1 decision to Cornell Friday night at Newman Arena. The teams split the first two sets, then needed to go to extra points in the third before the Big Red won. In the fourth, Penn held a 22-21 lead late but Cornell scored the final four points to close things out.
Set scores were 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 25-22.
Penn fell to 9-7 overall and is 3-4 at the midway point of its Ivy League season. Cornell improved to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in Ivy play.
Quaker Notemeal
*Freshman
Ellie Siskin led Penn with 18 kills, setting her season/career high for the second straight match and reaching double digits for the third in a row. She hit .300 on the night (18K-6E-40A).
*Siskin also had two blocks (1s/1a), seven digs and two service aces on the night.
*Sophomore
Zada Sanger put down 12 kills and added six digs on Friday.
*Sophomore
Bella Rittenberg had nine kills and four digs.
*Freshman
Adell Murray had a strong night offensively, with seven kills and a .375 hitting percentage, and she added four blocks (2s/2a) to go with two digs.
*Freshman setter
Emery Moore had 43 assists (10.75 a/s) and tied for match-high honors in digs (14) with teammate
Abigail Reid and Cornell's Jackie Baker.
*Freshman
Jenniya Lane had four kills without an error on 10 attacks (.400).
*Cornell got 23 kills and five block assists from Eliza Konvicka and 19 kills and seven blocks (2s/5a) from Mackenzie Parsons, while Camryn Carlo had nine kills and six blocks (2s/4a). Setter Doga Ozalp dished out 58 assists and had 11 digs, with Sarita Pomar (12) and Trinidy Tien (11) also reaching double digits in digs.
How It Happened
Cornell used a 6-1 run early in the first set to take a 7-3 lead and never relinquished that advantage. Penn fought back and was down by one on six occasions, but the Big Red used a 4-1 run midway through the set to go in front 17-13. The Quakers got within two twice more, at 20-18 and 21-19, but Cornell blocks were the bookends of a four-point run to close out the set. Siskin had six kills in the set.
The second set had 16 ties and six lead changes. Cornell led by as many as four, at 13-9, but Murray put down two kills as part of a 5-1 Penn run that leveled things at 14-14. The teams then traded the next 18 points, tying at every juncture up to Sanger's kill tying things at 23-23. That was the start of a three-point Penn run, though, as Cornell was called for a ball-handling error and then committed an attack error to give the Quakers the 25-23 victory. Murray finished with three kills on three attacks (1.000) while Sanger had three kills and Siskin added two kills and four digs.
The all-important third set was another barnburner, the teams tying 14 times and again trading the lead six times. The largest lead on either side was three points, Penn at 7-4 and Cornell at 14-11. At that point, Siskin put down two kills and served up an ace as part of a 4-1 run that tied things at 15-15. It was still 20-20 when the teams traded the next eight points, Penn fending off a set point when Moore and Murray blocked a Haley Clark attack to tie things at 24-24. Konvicka gave Cornell a second set point at 25-24, only for Sanger to put down a kill to tie things at 25-25. At that point Konvicka put down a kill and then teamed with Parsons to block a Penn attack for the 27-25 win. Sanger and Siskin had six kills each, Siskin hitting .556, with Moore recording 14 assists and five digs.
Penn got out to a fast start in the fourth set, going up 7-2. The Quakers kept the advantage to 19-16, at which time the Big Red reeled off five straight points to go in front 21-19. The Red and Blue recovered, Lane putting down a kill and then Rittenberg doubling her up to push Penn back in front, 22-21. However, at that point Cornell got kills from Carlo, Konvicka and Parsons and teamed it with a block for a four-point run that set the final score. Rittenberg had five kills and Siskin put down four in the set, while Moore finished with 11 assists and seven digs and Reid had six digs.
Up Next
Penn travels across the Empire State overnight and gets ready to face Columbia—a 3-0 loser to Princeton Friday night—on Saturday night in New York City. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. at Levien Gym.
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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