PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team (5-1, 0-0 Ivy League) is preparing for their home opener and Y2K night against Rider, this Wednesday at 7pm in the Palestra. The Quakers face Rider for only the second time, their first matchup being a sweep Sep. 21, 1996. This matchup will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Penn (5-1, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Rider (1-7, 0-0 Metro Atlantic)
Wednesday, Sept. 16 | 7 p.m. | The Palestra
Stream:  ESPN+  
Stats
  
LAST TIME OUT
-The Quakers went undefeated in the Leopard Invitational this weekend to extend their winning streak to five matches, its longest since the 2019 season. 
-Penn took down Quinnipiac in four sets on Saturday, 25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14. Jenna Garner had 15 kills while Emery Moore added 30 assists and 13 digs. 
-The Quakers then defeated Rhode Island in five sets on Sunday, 25-20, 22-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-8. Haley Kerstetter posted a career-high 16 kills while freshman Skylar Greene added 15 of her own. 
-The Red and Blue claimed the Leopard Invitational crown with a dominant sweep of host Lafayette on Sunday, winning 25-16, 25-12, 25-15. The offense hit a season-best .357, led by 10 kills each from Kerstetter and Ellie Siskin. 
-Kerstetter was named MVP of the tournament while Zada Sanger and Addison Pollock were also named All-Tournament.
- "I'm really happy with how we competed," said head coach Tyler Hagstrom. "We were consistent in serve and pass and were disciplined on defense. It was a really good way to finish the tournament."
 
ALL-LEAGUE NODS
-Adell Murray (.458) and Haley Kerstetter (.432) currently lead the league in hitting percentage. 
-Addison Pollock leads the conference in digs (145) ( 5.58 avg/s).
-Penn currently leads in points (458), assists (350) (13.46 avg/s), kills (366) (14.08 avg/s), and digs (452) (17.38 avg/s)  

WEEKLY AWARDS
- Kerstetter was named MVP of the tournament while hitting a .620 in three matches, including .833 on 10 kills last night in a sweep. She also posted a career-best 16 kills on Sunday morning
- Zada Sanger totaled 1.83 kills, 0.50 blocks and 0.50 digs per set in three wins this weekend, and Addison Pollock posted a fantastic 7.00 digs per set, including a career-best 34 digs on Saturday night vs. Quinnipiac, resulting in both Quakers being named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
HISTORY
-Penn is 1-0 all-time vs. Rider. The Quakers swept in their last matchup 30 years ago on Sept. 21, 1996.
 
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 76-61 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.

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.

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).

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.
 
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.