ANNAPOLIS, Mary. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League) is getting set for the Leopard Invitational this weekend, hosted by Lafayette University in Easton, Pa. Under second year head coach Tyler Hagstrom, the Quakers will take on Quinnipiac, Rhode Island and Lafayette in a two-day span Saturday and Sunday. The first two matches will be on YouTube while the Lafayette match will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Match 1 – Penn (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Quinnipiac (1-4, 0-0 Metro Atlantic)
Saturday, Sept. 12 | 6 p.m. | Easton, Pa.
Stream: YouTube
Stats
 
Match 2 – Penn (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Rhode Island (3-3. 0-0 A-10)
Sunday, Sept. 13 | 11 a.m. | Easton, Pa.
Stream: YouTube 
Stats
 
Match 3 – Penn (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League) at Lafayette (4-3, 0-0 Patriot League)
Saturday, Sept. 13 | 7 p.m. | Easton, Pa.
Stream: ESPN+
Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
-Penn women's volleyball began its 2026 season with a 2-1 record at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, hosted by Navy. The season began with a five-set loss to Stony Brook (25-21, 25-15, 18-25, 24-26, 14-16). Jenna Garner led the Quakers with 19 kills while Emery Moore had 50 assists and 21 digs. Penn had a chance at match point in set five but couldn't put it away.
-Coach Hagstrom and company responded with a five-set win over Coppin State on Saturday morning (23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 27-29, 16-14). Ellie Siskin tallied 18 kills while Skylar Greene had 12. Addi Pollock paced the defense with 22 digs and four Quakers had double doubles.
-"After a tough five set match on Friday, it was great to see us finish this one out," said head coach Tyler Hagstrom. "There were lots of opportunities for both teams to win this one, but we just kept at it. Skylar Greene had a great debut for us and Addi Pollock was so solid for us on defense. This one took everyone for sure."
-Penn completed the weekend with a four-set win over Navy on Saturday evening (25-21, 23-25, 29-27, 25-21). Zaga Sanger led the way with 14 kills while Nathalie Tsai had 22 assists and Adell Murray went for seven blocks. Murray and Garner were named to the All-Tournament Team.
-"I was really proud of how we ended the weekend," said head coach Tyler Hagstrom. "We had so many players step up and were shuffling different lineups out there the whole tournament."

SERIES HISTORY
-Penn is 2-0 all-time vs. Quinnipiac. The Quakers took sweepts in both 2006 and 2007 at the Penn Sheraton Invitational.
-The Quakers are 5-3 all-time against Rhode Island. Penn has won the last two and four of six in the series. They last met in 2024, with Penn earning a 3-1 win.
-Penn is 16-2 against Lafayette all-time. Penn swept last year in the Charm City Classic in Baltimore, Md. Lafayette won 3-1 in 2023, their first win in the series since 1983, which was their first victory in the series.
 
COACHING STAFF NUGGETS
-Penn is in its second season under head coach Tyler Hagstrom, who played collegiately for the Cal Baptist men's team. He was hired on July 16, 2025 after previous head coach Meredith Schamun left the Quakers to become the associate head coach at the University of Illinois.
-Hagstrom comes to Penn after a successful five-year run at Bucknell that included the Bison going 21-5 in 2024 and setting a program record with 13 wins in Patriot League play. Hagstrom left Bucknell as the program's all-time leader in win percentage (59-48, .551).
-He holds a 73-61 career record, including a 14-13 mark with the Quakers.
-Hagstrom is joined by assistant coaches Wyatt Emenaker and Alyssa Bert. Emenaker is in his third season and came to Penn from VCU. Bert enters her second season, joining the program after finishing her career playing at Syracuse as a graduate student. She also played at Colorado State.

2025 RUN DOWN
-In year one under head coach Tyler Hagstrom, the Quakers posted a 12-12 (6-8 Ivy League) record. They lost their season opener to Colorado (3-0) before notching sweeps over Fresno State and UC Irvine at the Anteater Classic. UPenn went on to finish 6-4 in non-conference play, earning sweeps in all six wins. The Quakers started conference play slowly, losing their first three league matches before taking down Harvard on the road, starting a span where the team won three of its next four games.

2025 IVY LEAGUE RECAP
-The Quakers finished tied for fifth in the Ivy League (6-8) with Harvard. Princeton (11-3) took home the league title, followed by Yale (10-4), Cornell (10-4) and Brown (9-5). Princeton defeated Yale in five sets for the league title.

ALL-LEAGUE NODS
-UPenn outside Zada Sanger was named Second Team All-Ivy last season. The senior-to-be went for 3.32 kills per set, a team-best, on .234 hitting. She also added 0.38 blocks per set.
-Rookie libero Addison Pollock earned All-Ivy Honorable Mention after going for 4.80 digs per set, a mark that ranked her first in the conference and 23rd nationally.

CALI DREAMIN'
-Penn boasts eight players who hail from California, including: seniors Bella Rittenberg (Fallbrook) and Zada Sanger (Berkeley); juniors Jenna Garner (Pasadena) and Hailey Hilsabeck (Lafayette); sophomore Taylor Roloff (Alameda) and freshmen Pilar Kelley (San Francisco), Reese Stringer (Manhattan Beach) and Lauryn Lewis (Los Angeles).
 
PRESEASON PICKS
-Penn was picked fifth in the Ivy League's preseason media poll, which featured two voters from each of the schools. The Quakers garnered 65 points, followed by Harvard (49), Dartmouth (36) and Columbia (20). Princeton (122 points) had 11 first place votes while Yale (115) had four first place votes. Brown (82) had one first place vote.
 
PUTTING THE LEAGUE ON NOTICE
-Last year the Quakers ranked first in the conference with 17.12 digs per set, over two dps higher than the second place team in Princeton (15.09).
-Penn ranked second in the Ivy with 12.91 assists per set and 13.69 kills per set.
-So far in 2026, Penn ranks second in kills per set (13.86) and assists per set (13.21).
-The Quakers place first in digs per set with 15.86.

IVY LEADERS IN 2025 AND 2026
-Addison Pollock led all Ivy League players with a stellar 4.80 per frame in 2025. She again leads the league with 4.36 dps in 2026.
-Emery Moore placed fourth in assists per set with 8.24 aps in 2025. She ranks second in 2026 after three matches at 8.88 aps.
-Zada Sanger was fourth in the Ivy League with 3.32 kills per set in 2025.
-Adell Murray ranks first in the Ivy in 2026 with a stellar .462 hitting percentage.

RETURNERS SET TO LEAD THE WAY
-Penn brings back a ton of production from last year, including its top seven scorers. Zada Sanger (3.32 kps), Jenna Garner (2.67 kps), Ellie Siskin (2.61 kps) and Adell Murray (2.06) all averaged over two kills per set in 2025.
-As the team's main setter from a year ago, junior Emery Moore returns after notching over eight assists (8.24 aps) a set.
-Defensively, seven of the team's top eight blockers are back as well. Hailey Kerstetter (0.68 bps) and Adell Murray (0.66 bps) lead the charge out of the middle.
-The top digging team in the Ivy brings back five players who tallied over 100 digs, including Addison Pollock (360), Jenna Garner (274) and Emery Moore (236)..
 
MATCH HIGHS
-The Quakers tallied 61 kills against Navy on Saturday, the most kills of any Ivy team in a four-set match this season.
-Penn had 75 digs vs. Stony Brook, 74 vs. Coppin State and 73 vs. Navy, the top three most of any Ivy team so far this season.
-Emery Moore had 50 assists vs. Stony Brook, the only Ivy player to hit that mark so far this year.
-Addison Pollock's 21 digs vs. Navy were the most by any conference player in a match this season.

WEEKLY AWARDS
-Zada Sanger was named last year's MVP of the Delaware Invitational after she totaled 26 kills and a .523 hitting pct (26K-3E-44A) across a pair of 3-0 wins. She was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Sept. 22 as well.

STATEMENT WINS IN YEAR ONE
-A couple notable wins from year one of the Tyler Hagstrom era included victories over three-time defending conference champion Yale (3-2 on Nov. 1) and a sweep over then Ivy League leader Cornell on Oct. 18.

PALESTRA CELEBRATING YEAR 100 IN 2026-27
-The Quakers will celebrate 100 years of the Historic Palestra this season, the home of Penn Volleyball since 1990. Penn will play nine home matches there this season. An additional match will take place between Penn State and Stanford there on Sept. 11.
 
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
-Penn announced that junior outside Jenna Garner and senior libero/defensive specialists Lauren Van Wie and Elsa McDermott have been named captains for the 2026 season.

IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy matches and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages.

For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.