With the regular season coming to a close, Penn volleyball played their final two matches of the year in the Palestra against Dartmouth on Friday and against Harvard on Saturday.
The Red and Blue battled all weekend, besting the Big Green in four sets but coming up just short to Harvard in five.
Although a postseason appearance wasn’t in the cards for either team, both Penn and Dartmouth were determined to finish on a high note. This was evident throughout set one, where both teams traded the lead and had eight different ties.
Later in the first set, Dartmouth slowly started inching closer to the 25-point mark as they strung together kills, with the Red and Blue trailing behind by three points, 20-17. Although managing to chip away at this deficit, Dartmouth’s consistent defense and big blocking presence led to them claiming the set.
Determined not to crumble under pressure, Penn dialed in and saw success in set two.
Leading the Big Green 14-10, Penn saw pushback from Dartmouth, who were able to cut this deficit and tie things up evenly at 15 points. Untimely attack errors from the Big Green paved the way for Penn to gain momentum and close out the set. An ace from sophomore defensive specialist Elsa McDermott brought the Red and Blue to set point, but Dartmouth wasn’t willing to go out without a fight.
Rallying the next three points in a row, the momentum shifted in favor of the Big Green. With a timeout, Penn ultimately closed out set two off a kill from freshman middle blocker Haley Kerstetter. Capitalizing on the momentum from the second set, the Red and Blue were able to claim the next two sets to avenge their loss to the Big Green earlier this season.
Junior outside hitter Zada Sanger led the Quakers in kills with 21 on a .367 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle hitter Addell Murray was a big presence on the court Friday night, tallying nine kills and three blocks. Additionally, sophomore outside hitter Ellie Siskin was good for 13 kills of her own, along with one block and one ace.
On Saturday, Penn faced up against Harvard in their final match of the season and came up just short in five sets. On Senior Night for the Quakers, Penn volleyball was determined to leave it all out on the court.
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Penn was quick to the first punch and claimed set one in dominant fashion, 25-16. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Garner led the Quakers in the first set with four kills, hitting a steady .500.
However, Harvard went on to narrowly claim the second set 25-23. This set saw seven different ties, the latest coming at 19 points all. A scoring run off a kill from senior middle blocker Jalen Tennyson forced a Harvard timeout. For the Crimson, the timeout was just what they needed to stop the bleeding and regroup. Harvard narrowly closed out the set 25-23 and tied things up at one set apiece.
Similar to set one, set three was all Penn. Leading by as many as six points, consistent production from Tennyson, Sanger, and Garner gave Penn the momentum needed to close out the set at 25-17.
Although Penn was leading two sets to one, Harvard went on to claim the next two sets, closing out the match and season. Sanger finished the night with 17 kills and a .400 hit percentage. Additionally, Garner tallied 11 kills and 1 block of her own.
With the loss, Penn volleyball closed coach Tyler Hagstrom's season with a fifth place finish in the conference.
