PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team battled Brown in an extremely close match on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center but fell 3-0 in a match that was much closer than the score might indicate.
 
Set scores were 25-23, 25-22, 26-24 on a night when the Bears never held more than a three-point lead over the Quakers at any point. The teams were tied 31 different times across the three sets—nine times in Set 1, 12 times in Set 2, and 10 times in Set 3—and Penn held multi-point leads at 20 in all three sets before the hosts overtook them.
 
Penn fell to 10-8 overall while Brown improved to 7-12. Both teams are now 4-5 in Ivy League play after splitting the season series. (Penn was a 3-0 victor at The Palestra on October 5.)
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Freshman Ellie Siskin topped the Quakers in kills (9) and digs (13) on Friday night, missing out on her fourth double-double of the season by just one kill. She also had Penn's only block solo and added a block assist.
 
*Freshman Adell Murray had eight kills and hit .292 on the night, adding a pair of block assists.
 
*Freshman Jenna Garner also came close to a double-double, with eight kills and 11 digs.
 
*Freshman Emery Moore dished out 33 assists (11.0 a/s), came up with two block assists, and served up two aces.
 
*Also on attack Friday, sophomore Zada Sanger had six kills while freshman Jenniya Lane and sophomore Bella Rittenberg had five each with Lane hitting .400 (5K-1E-10A).
 
*Brown got 15 kills from Kayla Griebl and 14 from Mariia Sidorova, who also had 12 digs and two block assists. Jessie Golden had 18 digs while Julia Kakkis dished out 37 assists.
 
How It Happened
Penn led the first set, 20-17, but after a Brown timeout the Quakers served up an error and that opened the door. The Bears walked right through, Sidorova putting down three kills as part of a six-point run that turned Brown's three-point deficit into a three-point lead. Penn won the next two points, a Moore/Lane block getting the Quakers within 23-22, but then Brown's Hannah Flannery put one down to give the home team two set points. Sanger staved one of them off with a kill, but a Beau Vanderlaan kill gave the set to the Bears, 25-23. Sanger and Lane had three kills each, Lane hitting .600 (3K-0E-5A).
 
Penn had a late lead again in the second set, this time at 20-18, but once again Brown responded. This time it was a 5-0 run that pushed the Bears in front 23-20. A Murray kill and an Elsa McDermott service ace got the Quakers back within one, at 23-22, and forced a Brown timeout. Out of the stoppage, Bruno got a kill from Griebl and then a Penn attack error gave the set to the Bears. Sanger, Murray and Rittenberg had three kills each, Murray hitting .333 (3K-0E-9A).
 
Penn's lead was 20-17 again in the third and was still 23-20 after a Siskin kill. However, Vanderlaan and Kakkis sandwiched kills around a Golden service ace to tie things up at 23-23. Murray put down a kill to give the Quakers set point, but kills by Griebl, Kakkis and Flannery turned things around and gave the match to Bruno. Siskin led the attack with six kills, hitting .462 (6K-OE-13A), and added five digs and a block assist while Garner had seven kills on 19 attacks (.316).
 
Up Next
Penn continues its weekend in New England with a match at Ivy League leader Yale on Saturday night. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.