PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team split its final two matches in the Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square Penn Invitational on Saturday, sweeping Le Moyne in the morning match but falling 3-0 to Morgan State in the tournament's final game Saturday night.
 
Set scores against the Dolphins were 25-14, 25-17, 25-19.
 
Set scores against the Bears were 25-21, 25-14, 25-22.
 
Penn is now 4-3 on the season.
 
Sophomore Bella Rittenberg and freshman Adell Murray were named to the all-tournament team along with Morgan State's Daniela Ferreira and Mya Karrick, Manhattan's Maike Bertens, and Le Moyne's Jordyn Hamlin.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Murray had a solid day on attack for Penn, hitting a combined .429 (16K-4E-28A); she tallied a team-high nine kills in the loss to the Lady Bears.
 
*Rittenberg, meanwhile, had 13 kills on Saturday, hitting .400 in the loss to MSU (6K-0E-15A) and .367 for the day (13K-2E-30A).
 
*Sophomore Zada Sanger led Penn in kills in Saturday morning's win over Le Moyne, with eight on 18 attacks without an error (.444). Rittenberg and Murray had seven kills, as did junior Jalen Tennyson and freshman Jenna Garner.
 
*Tennyson also was a wall up front, with eight blocks (2s/6a) including five that came in the first set. Sanger aided with three block assists while Feyi Ogunlari had two BAs.
 
*Freshman setter Emery Moore had a team-high 40 assists across the two games on Saturday, while junior Anna Shohfi had 14 and added a team-leading 10 digs in the win over Le Moyne.
 
How It Happened – MORGAN STATE
Penn may have expected the Lady Bears to be tired, as they had pulled a 3-2 reverse sweep win over Manhattan a mere 40 minutes before first serve on Saturday evening. Not quite.

MSU scored the first three points of the first set and built the lead to 9-3 early, forcing a Penn timeout. The Quakers were chasing the game the rest of the way and nearly got all the way back at 19-18. The teams traded the next two points, but then a Red and Blue attack error and a Bears block were followed by a pair of service aces and suddenly Morgan State's lead was five and the Bears had set point. Penn fought off two of them, but a kill by Tyrah Weems sealed the 25-21 victory. Ogunlari had three kills in the set and two block assists (with Tennyson).

A stunning Morgan State run came early in the second; the Lady Bears scored a staggering ten points in a row to turn a one-point deficit into a 14-5 lead. The MSU lead swelled to as large as 11, at 18-7, and Penn never got closer than eight as their guests cruised. Murray was a bright spot for the team in white, as she had four kills on five attacks (.800).

The third set was much more competitive, as Penn tried to pull its own reverse sweep. The Quakers led by as many as four twice, at 12-8 and again at 16-12 after the teams traded four-point streaks. However, the Lady Bears still weren't gassed; they scored six of the next seven points and went in front when Trinity Caruthers sandwiched a pair of aces around a Quakers timeout to make it 18-17. A Murray kill tied the set at 18-18, and a Rittenberg kill was the first of two points that gave Penn a 20-19 lead. MSU was still prowling about, though, and scored the next four points (again amidst a Penn timeout) to go up 23-20. The teams traded the final four points after that, a Penn attack error giving the Lady Bears the set and game win. Rittenberg had four kills on six attacks in the set (.667) while Murray and Moore had three kills each (Moore hitting .750).
 
Up Next
Penn is at NJIT on Tuesday night, facing off with the Highlanders at 6 p.m., before returning home next Sunday to host the University of Rhode Island at 1 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.