NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team stunned Ivy League leader and defending champion Yale on Saturday night, scoring a first-set win. The Bulldogs righted the ship after that, however, and took the next three to earn a 3-1 victory over the Quakers at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.
 
Set scores were 22-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-21.
 
Penn fell to 10-9 overall and 4-6 in Ivy League play. Yale—which had a 30-match home winning streak snapped last night in a 3-1 loss to Princeton—remained atop the Ivy League at 9-1 and improved to 14-4 overall.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*For the second straight night, Penn did not have any players reach double figures in kills. Sophomore Bella Rittenberg (who hit .375 on the night) and freshmen Ellie Siskin and Adell Murray led the way with eight each.
 
*Another freshman, Jenniya Lane, had a strong overall performance at the net. Offensively, she had seven kills without an error on 10 attacks, a .700 hitting night. Defensively, she led the way with four block assists. The freshman also tied for team-high honors (with Siskin) with two service aces and added two digs.
 
*Freshman setter Emery Moore dished out 30 assists, picked up 10 digs, had the Quakers' only block solo and added a block assist.
 
*Junior Anna Shohfi led Penn with 13 digs, followed by sophomore Elsa McDermott (12).
 
*Sophomore Zada Sanger had five kills in the final two sets, while freshman Jenna Garner put down four kills on the night.
 
*Yale had five players reach double figures in kills: Betsy Goodenow (15), Laurece Abraham (11), Gigi Barr (11), Lauren Kellen (10), and Mila Yarich (10). Goodenow also had 10 digs and four block assists. Carly Diehl finished with 46 assists, 10 digs and two block assists while Cara Schultz led all players with 19 digs.
 
How It Happened
Penn jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Saturday's first set, and the lead was still 12-8 when Yale finally made its run. The Bulldogs scored four points in a row, then responded to a modest two-point Penn run with five straight. Overall, it was a 9-2 run that left the Bulldogs up by three, 17-14. The Quakers responded with the next four points, Murray starting the run with a kill and Lane finishing with a block (shared with Moore) and a kill. The teams traded the next three points, tying the score at 19-19, but a Yale attack error was followed by a Moore ace and then a block by Lane and Rittenberg. That put Penn in front, 22-19, and forced a Bulldogs timeout. Out of the stoppage, Barr put down a kill but Garner answered with her own kill and then another block, this time by Lane and Siskin, gave Penn set point at 24-20. Yale staved off two of them, but a Siskin kill—her team-leading third of the set—finished things off and gave the Red and Blue an early 1-0 set lead.
 
Penn then scored the first two points in the second set, and it was still a 6-5 advantage before Yale made a run. The Bulldogs reeled off seven of the next nine points, going in front 12-8 and forcing a Quakers timeout. Penn got as close as three twice, at 12-9 and 13-10, but the hosts gradually pulled away and ran off five of the last six points to send the teams to the break tied 1-1 in sets. Rittenberg, Lane and Garner had two kills each in the set.
 
Yale established itself early in the third, running off three points in a row to go in front 7-3. Penn got as close as 9-7, only to see the Bulldogs score four of the next five points to re-establish a comfortable margin. A block by Lane and Sanger was followed by a Siskin kill, making the score 13-10, but Yale came back with the next three points and the Red and Blue never got closer than five after that. The hosts ended the set emphatically, with six straight points. Murray and Siskin had three kills each, Murray hitting ..429 (3K-0E-7A).
 
News of Penn's demise were greatly exaggerated. Down, 3-1, the Quakers got kills from Rittenberg (2) and Siskin and added a Lane ace to go in front, 5-3. That lead held all the way to the media timeout, a Lane kill making the score 15-13 in favor of the Red and Blue after the teams had been tied at 5-5, 8-8, 10-10 and 11-11. Out of the stoppage, Yale put down a pair of kills around an ace to take its first lead since 3-2. A service error was followed by a Murray kill, though, putting Penn back in front 17-16. The next three points went to the Bulldogs, bringing about a Penn timeout, and the teams traded the next seven points as the Quakers would get within one only to see Eli go back up by two. It was 22-21 Yale after a Sanger kill, but unfortunately that would be the final point of the night for Penn as the hosts got kills from Goodenow, Abraham, and Goodenow again to close out the match. Sanger had four kills in the set while Rittenberg put down three and hit .600.
 
Up Next
The Quakers are at The Palestra for their final two home matches of 2024, hosting Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. Friday's match is slated for a 7 p.m. start and Saturday's will have first serve at 5 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.