HANOVER, N.H. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team survived a massive scare from host Dartmouth on Saturday night, the Quakers surviving the Big Green's attempt at a reverse sweep just one night after they themselves pulled one off at Harvard.
 
Set scores were 25-21, 25-19, 13-25, 18-25, 16-14.
 
Unfortunately, Penn's season comes to an end. That's because the other thing the Red and Blue needed to happen on Saturday night did not, as Brown had little trouble in sweeping Columbia. So the Bears clinch the fourth seed in the Ivy League Tournament with one more win in Ivy League play than Penn (13-10, 7-7 Ivy) which more than tripled its win totals in both league play and overall from last season.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn swept an Ivy League road weekend for the first time since 2016, when the Quakers also won at Harvard (3-0) and Dartmouth (3-2).
 
*Overall, it was Penn's first sweep of an Ivy weekend since the last weekend of 2021 when they hosted and swept both Cornell and Columbia.
 
*Sophomore Zada Sanger had her second straight monster night, putting down 20 kills and hitting .340 on Saturday. She also had five block assists and ended the weekend hitting .373 (37K-6E-83A).
 
*Sophomore Bella Rittenberg had 14 kills and hit .423 on the night.
 
*Freshman Adell Murray reached double digits in kills for the fourth straight match, with 10, and had two blocks (1s/1a).
 
*Freshman Ellie Siskin led all players with 15 digs, classmate Jenniya Lane led all players with seven block assists, and a third freshman—Jenna Garner—led all players with three service aces.
 
*Freshman setter Emery Moore dished off 47 assists on Saturday; she also had 11 digs, as did junior Anna Shohfi.
 
*Dartmouth (10-14, 3-11) got 22 kills from Maddie LaFata and 11 from Piper Stevens, who also had five blocks (1s/4a). Raeli Smith had seven blocks (2s/5a), while Emma Engstrom led the team with 11 digs.
 
How It Happened
The first set gave indications that it could be a lengthy night at Leede Arena, as Penn and Dartmouth tied 11 different times. The Quakers were in front, 8-4, but the Big Green responded with the next five points and from there things stayed close as neither team was able to get a two-point lead until Penn went in front, 17-15. A three-point Dartmouth run put the hosts in front, 19-18, bringing a Penn timeout. Out of the break, a Murray kill started a 6-1 Quakers run that got them to set point on the way to a 25-21 win. Sanger had six kills and hit .312 while adding two block assists in the set.
 
The teams were tied a bunch early in the second set, too, but at 11-11 a Sanger kill and a Big Green attack error gave the Quakers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. A pair of Garner aces opened the lead to four points, at 18-14, but Dartmouth won three in a row to get within one and kept within striking distance at 21-19. However, a Murray kill was the impetus to a four-point run that closed it out, with Sanger and Lane blocking a LaFata attack and then putting down kills for the 25-19 victory. Rittenberg had four kills while Murray was perfect on three attacks.
 
Dartmouth—which was celebrating its Senior Night—still had plenty left. The Big Green used a six-point run that turned a 7-5 deficit into an 11-7 lead early in the third set, then blew it open with a 5-1 run that extended their lead to 18-11. Ultimately Dartmouth outscored Penn 12-3 in the back half of the set for a 25-13 victory. Sanger put down four kills while Rittenberg had three.
 
Things got really nervy for Penn fans when Dartmouth won the fourth set, again relatively handily. The Big Green were up 11-10 but scored four in a row to make it a five-point margin that opened up to six at 18-12. Penn got as close as 19-16 thanks to a pair of Murray kills, but Dartmouth reeled off the next three points and that essentially ended it. The final was 25-18. Sanger had three kills on seven attacks for a .429 hitting set.
 
The fifth set was all you could ask for. The teams tied 11 times after Dartmouth opened the set with a 2-0 lead, and no one held a lead larger than two again until kills by Ava Roberts and LaFata put the Big Green in front, 9-7. A Dartmouth service error was followed by a Sanger/Murray block, tying things at 9-9, but a LaFata kill and a Stevens ace put the Big Green up by two again, at 11-9. A Sanger kill halved the lead, and then Moore and Lane blocked a Kauany Gutz attack to tie things at 11-11 and force a Dartmouth timeout. The teams traded the next six points, with Dartmouth leading at 12-11, Penn at 13-12, and then Dartmouth at 14-13 for match point. Out of a Penn timeout, Sanger got a kill to tie things at 14-14 and then Rittenberg put down the hammer to give the Quakers match point. The next point saw both teams get multiple chances to score, but ultimately it was a heady attack by Moore—her only one of the set—that landed out of the reach of Dartmouth's back line and gave Penn the dramatic victory. Sanger had five kills in the set while Rittenberg added three (hitting .429).
 
Up Next
The 2024 season has concluded.
 
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