PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team swept NJIT in its first home match under first-year head coach
Tyler Hagstrom Wednesday night at The Palestra.
Set scores were 25-14, 25-18, 25-17.
Penn improved to 4-3 with the win, while NJIT fell to 3-8.
Quaker Notemeal
*All four of Penn's wins under Hagstrom have been sweeps.
*Penn hit .310 on Wednesday night, the Quakers' second time finishing a match over .300 (they hit .318 against UC Irvine).
*Penn also put down 8.0 blocks in Wednesday's match—its second-best performance this season—had 50 assists to NJIT's 25, and came up with 64 digs to NJIT's 43.
*Sophomore
Jenna Garner continues to be an offensive menace, with 15 kills which led all players. She also filled the box score with eight digs, a block assist, two assists and a service ace.
*Junior
Zada Sanger put down 10 kills and hit .308 on Wednesday. She added two digs and two block assists.
*Sophomore
Adell Murray had seven kills and hit .375 on the night. She also led the net defense with five blocks (2s/3a).
*Senior
Jalen Tennyson had five kills on seven attacks, a .714 night, and put down two block assists as well.
*Junior
Bella Rittenberg finished the night with four kills on 11 attacks without an error, a .364 hitting night. She added two block assists.
*Freshman libero
Addison Pollock, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, again led all players in digs with 15.
*Sophomore
Emery Moore and senior
Anna Shohfi shared the setter duties, Moore dishing out 23 assists and Shohfi 15. Moore also had 10 digs while Shohfi finished with seven.
*Junior
Elsa McDermott served up two aces to lead the team and added 13 digs.
How It Happened
SET 1: Penn started quickly on Wednesday, scoring five straight points after the teams traded the game's first two points. The Quakers then answered NJIT's second point of the night with four more in a row, forcing a Highlanders timeout in the process. Murray started the run with two kills and a block solo, while sophomore
Ellie Siskin and Garner had two each. The lead hit double digits at 13-3 on a Rittenberg kill and got as large as 14 (22-8) on a Garner kill. Garner finished the set with six kills, hitting .364, while Murray had four kills and hit .500 and McDermott added seven digs.
SET 2: The teams were tied five times early, the last coming at 7-7 on a Taylor West kill for NJIT. Tennyson and Sanger put down a block of a West attack on the next point, though, then Murray and Rittenberg blocked an Ema Torres attack. That was the start of a four-point Quakers run that stretched to 7-2 and a 14-9 lead. The Highlanders got within three on a few occasions, the last at 20-17, but kills by Sanger and Siskin made it 22-17 and then Penn responded to NJIT's next point with a Siskin kill, a block by Garner and Murray, and a McDermott ace to close out the set. Garner had five more kills in the set, hitting .500, and added five digs while Sanger had four kills and Siskin added three.
SET 3: NJIT used a four-point run to take a 12-10 lead, but Penn answered with its own four-point run that was spurred by Murray (two kills and a block solo). The set's sixth tie came at 15-15, but Siskin put down a kill and then Shohfi served up an ace to give the Quakers a lead they would not relinquish. It was still just 19-17 when Penn struck the finishing blow, a pair of Sanger kills starting a a 6-0 run that ended the Highlanders' night. Sanger had three kills in the final run and five in the set on 10 attacks without an error (.500). Garner had four more kills, while Pollock picked up six digs.
Up Next
Penn will be at the University of Delaware for a pair of matches this weekend, facing the host Blue Hens on Friday night (6 p.m.) and Saint Peter's on Saturday (1 p.m.).
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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