Penn volleyball found its footing on Friday, taking home its first Ivy victory of the season, but the team then fell to the Big Green the next day.
Coming off a three-game losing streak, Penn volleyball was eager to reassert themselves as a fierce competitor in the Ivy League. Finishing 1-1 on the weekend, the Quakers (7-8, 1-4 Ivy) took a step towards that by claiming their first conference win of the season on Friday night at Harvard (3-10, 2-3). The next day, the Red and Blue barely lost a hard-fought, five-set battle at Dartmouth (5-10, 2-3) on Saturday night in New Hampshire.
Facing up against the Crimson in Cambridge, Mass., Penn volleyball experienced its first in league road matchup on Friday and played lights out with poise, confidence, and resilience to win.
But it was a rocky start. Throughout the first set, the Quakers struggled to get in rhythm. A handful of reception errors and mishits led to Penn trailing Harvard by a significant margin. Early in the match, Harvard went on a 4-0 scoring run, not letting the Quakers chip their way back into the set. Behind by as much as ten points late in set 1, sophomore outside hitter Jenna Garner was able to string together a few points for Penn and rallied her team to go on a run. However, the significant lead was too challenging for Penn to fight off, and they dropped the first set 25-19, though Garner led the Quakers with five kills on a 0.444 hitting percentage.
Fortunately, the Red and Blue were able to flip the switch after the first set loss and played much more freely and confidently for the remainder of the match. Junior outside hitter Zada Sanger was a standout contributor for the Red and Blue, notching 16 kills on 27 attacks and finishing the night with a 0.556 hitting percentage.
Garner also had double-digit kills in the matchup against Harvard and was a threat from the service line, notching two aces against Harvard. Her ace at the end of the second set turned the tide in favor of Penn. Consistent contributions from Penn’s middles and right sides led to the Quakers ultimately winning the next three sets to claim their first conference victory.
“That first set just felt really out of control for us, and we weren’t playing our best volleyball.” sophomore middle blocker Adell Murray said about kicking into the next gear to claim the victory. “It’s times like that when we as a team have the confidence to know that what we did wasn’t our best and that we can be better. Once we realized that it’s easy to play our game and not on our heels.”
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Playing in a competitive conference like the Ivy League means either team can show out and win on any given night. This was evident on Saturday when the Red and Blue came up short at Dartmouth.
Quick to strike the iron, the Quakers claimed the first set over the Big Green. Although going back and forth throughout this set, big contributions from Murray and freshman outside hitter Hailey Kerstetter opened up Penn’s offensive arsenal, paving the way for teammates like Garner and sophomore outside hitter Ellie Siskin to battle Dartmouth. In set one alone, Murray, Kerstetter, Siskin, and Garner each scored more than four kills and weren’t looking to take their foot off the gas.
However, Dartmouth clawed back into the match in the next two sets and narrowly claimed them over the Quakers. Although having an early four-point lead over the Big Green, Penn ended up falling behind in set two, trailing by as much as seven points at one point in the second set. A string of Dartmouth runs was hard for the Quakers to overcome, and they ultimately fell short by just two points, losing 27-25. Sanger came up big in this set for the Quakers, putting away seven kills and keeping her team in the set throughout. Sanger finished the night with 17 kills and three blocks.
Similarly to set two, Penn narrowly trailed behind the Big Green and ultimately fell in set three, trailing 2-1 in the sets.
With hard-fought efforts, Penn claimed set four. The Red and Blue were able to launch a 5-1 run late in set four and easily claimed the set over Dartmouth. Siskin led the way this set with seven kills, finishing the night with 14 kills, three blocks, and two aces. The win forced a fifth set to break the tie. While the Quakers led early in set five, they fell just short, losing the set 15-13, allowing Dartmouth to claim the match 3-2. The contest overall was a struggle on the offensive side of the ball as the Quakers had a hit just 0.177 in the matchup.
“We've been working a lot on keeping focus on our side of the net and having confidence in our skills,” Siskin said. “We’re not thinking too much about what the other team is doing and are trying to keep an inward focus on ourselves.”
Penn volleyball looks to add to the win column and defend the Palestra against Columbia on Friday.
