ANNAPOLIS, Mary. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team enters the 2026 season at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, hosted by the Naval Academy. Under second year head coach Tyler Hagstrom, the Quakers will take on Stony Brook, Coppin State and Navy in a two-day span. The Stony Brook and Coppin State matches will be live stats only, while the Navy match will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Match 1 – Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Stony Brook (1-3, 0-0 CAA)
Friday, Sept. 4 | 3 p.m. | Annapolis, Md.
Live Stats
 
Match 2 – Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Coppin State (1-2, 0-0 MEAC)
Saturday, Sept. 5 | 11 a.m. | Annapolis, Md.
Live Stats
 
Match 3 – Penn at Navy (0-3, 0-0 Patriot League)
Saturday, Sept. 5 | 4 p.m. | Annapolis, Md.
ESPN+
Live Stats
 
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.
 
SERIES HISTORY
-Penn is 1-2 all-time against Stony Brook. UPenn took home a 3-2 win in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York before falling 3-2 in September of 2007. Stony Brook won 3-0 in 1999.
-The Quakers are 1-3 all-time against Coppin State. Last year they fell in a road match at Coppin State, 3-2. Coppin State took home a 3-2 victory in 2024 and a 3-0 victory in 2023. Penn's only win in the series came in 2021, a 3-1 win at the Palestra.
-Penn is 9-3 against Navy, last falling 3-1 in 2017 at the Palestra and winning 3-0 in 2007 in Washington, D.C. The two teams have played twice since 1997. Penn has won nine of the last 11 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 71-60 career record, including a 12-12 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.

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 LEAGE 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.

IVY LEADERS
-Addison Pollock led all Ivy League players with a stellar 4.80 per frame.
-Emery Moore placed fourth in assists per set with 8.24 aps.
-Haley Kerstetter ranked fourth in the league with a .390 hitting percentage, tallying 119 kills on 246 swings.
-Zada Sanger was fourth in the Ivy League with 3.32 kills per set.

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)..
 
PLENTY OF MINUTES PLAYED
-The Quakers played 90 total sets last season, with 10 players appearing in 50-or-more sets. Nine of those players return in 2026. Departed senior Anna Shohfi (55 sets played) is the only one gone from that group.

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.