IRVINE, Calif. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team opened the 2025 season (and the Tyler Hagstrom coaching era) with a 3-0 loss to the University of Colorado on Friday night. The match was the Quakers' first at the Anteater Classic, which is being hosted by UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center.
 
Set scores were 25-15, 25-14, 25-17.
 
While Friday's match was the season opener for the Quakers, Colorado—which plays in the Big 12 Conference—improved to 5-0 with all of the wins coming in straight sets.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn used 15 different players in Friday night's season opener.
 
*Junior Zada Sanger led Penn's attack on Friday night, finishing with nine kills, and she also had three digs.
 
*Junior Bella Rittenberg had seven kills, hitting .250 on the night, and added a dig and a block assist.
 
*Sophomore Ellie Siskin put down six kills on Friday.
 
*Sophomore Emery Moore got the start at setter and dished out 16 assists; she also led the Quakers with eight digs.
 
*In her first collegiate match, freshman Haley Kerstetter led Penn with two blocks (1s/1a).
 
*Another freshman, Addison Pollock, got the start at libero and finished the night with seven digs and three assists.
 
How It Happened
SET 1: Penn opened the scoring with kills by Rittenberg and Jalen Tennyson, two of seven players making a return to their home state this weekend. CU responded with the next five points. It was 6-5 Buffs when they reeled off five of the next six points to go in front 11-6. Penn never got closer than five after that, and Colorado closed things out with a 6-1 run to win by ten. Rittenberg led the Quakers' attack with three kills while Sanger, Murray and Siskin had two each and Moore picked up five digs.
 
SET 2: Another nice start by Penn, which led 2-0 and 3-1. The Red and Blue still led by two at 5-3, but Ines Kolada put down three kills as part of a four-point Colorado run and the Buffs never looked back. Penn was within one, at 8-7, but CU pulled away after that by scoring 14 of the next 16 points to go up by 22-9. Sanger had three late kills as part of a 5-2 run, but Colorado closed it out on a Katie Salonga service ace. Sanger hit .250 in the set.
 
SET 3: Colorado established itself early in this set, going up 6-2 and then 8-3. A pair of Sanger kills got Penn within three, at 9-6, but CU scored the next three points and the Quakers never got closer than four the rest of the way (12-8 and 13-9). The Red and Blue had a late 4-1 run, making the score 23-17, but a Penn service error and a Sydney Jordan kill closed things out. Sanger had four kills while Rittenberg was a perfect 3-for-3 on attack.  

Up Next
Penn will serve it up with Fresno State tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. Eastern. The Bulldogs were swept by Colorado on Thursday night, 3-0.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.