University of Pennsylvania Athletics

PRINCETON, N.J. – Quakers Volleyball took on Princeton in their Ivy League opener, falling to the returning Ivy Champs in a five set thriller 25-20, 25-14, 25-20, 25-19, and 17-15. "I think we need to work on embracing the pressure and all the feelings that come with it," says sophomore middle blocker, Haley Kerstetter. "It's easy to let that get to you but that's what you're here for."
 
Kerstetter led the offense hitting a .526, Zada Sanger tallied 13 kills. On the defensive side, Kerstetter tallied 4.5 blocks and Addison Pollock led the defense with 18 digs. 
 
Against the Tigers, Penn totaled 55 kills, 12.0 blocks, 71 digs and six aces, while Princeton had 59 kills, 9.0 blocks, 70 digs and 11 aces.

For Princeton, Ava Harrington led the offense with 17 kills, hit a .326, and had four service aces. Sydney Bold led the Tigers defensive with 28 digs. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | Penn set the tone of set one, going on a six point scoring run early creating a 7-2 lead. Penn led the set with only four attack errors, hitting a .323, while Princeton tallied six errors hitting a .125. Penn went on to win the set 25-20. 

SET 2 | Penn's seven point run to 7-1 and six point run at 11-8 was the difference maker for the Quakers this set. Creating those point deficits led the Quakers to win the set 25-14, the largest margin of the night. 
 
SET 3 | Princeton started to gain momentum this set, tallying 14 kills, and limiting Penn to only seven. At at 19-11, the Tigers had gained an eight point lead, their largest margin of the night, and went on to win the set 20-25.
 
SET 4 | The Tigers carried that momentum from the third set into this one, holding the Quakers to only taking a lead for three points. However, Penn only tallied three attacking errors, while Princeton created six. Despite this, the Tigers went on to win the set 25-19.
 
SET 5 | Penn started to gain some momentum back this set, leading the set 4-1 to start. However, Princeton quickly came back tying it 5-5. The back forth quickly continued throughout this set, leaving both teams tied at 14-14. However, the momentum Princeton gained from the last two sets carried over into finalizing this set and the game, in extra points, 17-15.

QUAKER NOTEMEAL
» Penn is now 8 – 3 overall this season, and 13-37 against Princeton
» Haley Kerstetter led the team in hitting percentage hitting a .526, and tallied 4.5 blocks.
» Zada Sanger had 13 kills
»  Addison Pollock led the defense with 18 digs, her 11^th with 10+ this season. 

UP NEXT
Penn will take on Cornell, Friday, October 2^nd at 6:00pm to open up home conference play in the Palestra.
 
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.