ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team fell at Cornell Friday night, 3-1, in a match that was much closer than the scoreline would indicate. The Quakers dropped the first two sets, including a tough decision in the second, before rallying to win the third and stay alive. However, the Big Red closed it out in the fourth to avenge a three-set loss at The Palestra last month.
 
Set scores were 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23.
 
Penn fell to 4-7 in Ivy League action and 10-11 overall, while Cornell remains atop the Ivy League standings at 9-2 and improved to 14-7 overall.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Sophomore Jenna Garner posted her second straight double-double and sixth this season, leading the team in both kills (14) and digs (13). She also had three block assists and two service aces.
 
*Junior Zada Sanger put down 12 kills on Friday night and added two of Penn's three block solos.
 
*Sophomore Ellie Siskin had 10 kills, her third straight match in double digits, and added 11 digs for her second double-double this season.
 
*Freshman Haley Kerstetter continues to be efficient offensively, hitting .417 on Friday (7K-2E-12A). She also had two digs and a block assist.
 
*Sophomore setter Emery Moore dished out 34 assists, adding 12 digs and three kills to her scoreline.
 
How It Happened
SET 1 (Cornell 25-20): Senior Jalen Tennyson and Garner gave Penn the first three points of the night, both putting down kills and then sharing a block. It was 5-3 when Cornell turned things around, the Big Red scoring six straight points to get a lead they wouldn't relinquish. The Quakers got within three at 13-10, but their hosts reeled off another six-point run and cruised from there. Garner had four kills and five digs in the set, while Sanger put down three kills.
 
SET 2 (Cornell 25-22): The best set of the match, the teams tying 13 times and switching leads four times. The teams were tied at 19-19, at which point a pair of Big Red kills were followed—after a Penn timeout—by a Cornell block to give the hosts a three-point lead. The Quakers did not break, drawing back level when Sanger blocked an Eliza Konvicka attack and Siskin put down a kill to tie things at 22-22. However, Meghan Gaffigan and Ava Bogan combined to give Cornell the last three points, Gaffigan putting down a kill and then splitting a block with Bogan before Bogan solo blocked Siskin for the final point. Siskin had three kills in the set, while Sanger and Moore had two each.
 
SET 3 (Penn 25-23): Cornell looked like it would run away with the sweep, scoring the first seven points. It was still 11-4 when the Quakers began chipping away, and a seven-point run that featured kills by Kerstetter, Garner and Siskin turned a 15-10 deficit into a 17-15 lead. Penn still led, 20-18, when Cornell's Mackenzie Parsons sandwiched a pair of kills around a Jaida Sione kill for a 21-20 Big Red lead which brought a timeout from Penn head coach Tyler Hagstrom. The teams traded the next four points, but at 23-22 Siskin put down a pair of kills and then Garner and Adell Murray blocked a Konvicka attack and the Quakers were still alive with the 25-23 win. Siskin had four kills and three digs in the set while Garner, Sanger and Kerstetter had three kills each.
 
SET 4 (Cornell 25-23): The Big Red used another fast start, scoring the first six points and extending its lead to 9-1. Once again, Penn got off the mat—the Quakers chipped away little by little until they finally got all the way back level at 21-21 on a Konvicka ball-handling error. Cornell called timeout and settled itself, the hosts scoring the next two points as Konvicka put down a kill and then served up an ace. Sanger got one of the points back with a kill, and then Kerstetter fended off a set point with a kill of her own. However, a Penn service error gave the win to the Big Red in anticlimactic fashion. Sanger hit .385 in the set (5K-0E-13A) while Kerstetter (.500) and Garner had four kills each.
 
Up Next
Penn closes out this five-match road swing tomorrow night at Columbia. First serve in New York City is set for 6 p.m.
 
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