Penn sports weekend preview: Football returns home, volleyball faces a rival

With home openers for football and sprint football, Princeton rivalry matchups for women’s golf and volleyball, and a must-win game for field hockey, this weekend of Penn sports promises to bring day-in day-out excitement for the Quakers.

Football

On Saturday, Penn football (0-1, 0-0 Ivy) faces Colgate (1-3) in the Quakers’ 2024 home opener. Penn and Colgate are familiar early-season opponents; in both 2022 and 2023, the Quakers began their seasons with dominant wins over the Raiders. Now, the Red and Blue will look to continue their success versus Colgate and avenge last week’s 29-22 loss against Delaware.

Adding to the Quakers’ optimism is a breadth of returning talent. Senior quarterback Aidan Sayin will take the field alongside All-Ivy first teamers sophomore running back Malachi Hosley and junior wide receiver Jared Richardson. Hosley jumped out to a fast start in Penn’s season opener against Delaware, notching 176 rushing yards, while Richardson logged 98 receiving yards and a touchdown. With so much offensive chemistry, Saturday’s matchup with Colgate promises to be a high-scoring affair amid Penn football’s quest for a championship season.

For more information on Sayin, Hosley, the team captains, or Penn’s season outlook, check out The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Football Preview.

Tennis

Penn tennis has a jam-packed weekend schedule, with the men’s team traveling to Lynchburg, Virginia for the Liberty Hidden Dual, and the women's team sending players to the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C.

The Liberty Hidden Dual will host matches Friday through Sunday, and for the majority of men’s team players, it will be their first action of the 2024 season. For sophomore Manfredi Graziani, Liberty will be his second consecutive weekend of play, having just returned home from the ITA All-American Championships. At the ITA, Graziani notched wins over athletes from Michigan State, Georgia, Clemson, and Auburn.

Penn women’s tennis is sending five athletes to the ITA Championships. Watch for 14th-ranked doubles partners sophomore Esha Velaga and senior Eileen Wang, fresh off of a 3-1 showing at the Penn Invitational, to make a run deep into the tournament bracket. Senior Sabine Rutlauka, ranked 70th in singles, will play in qualifying matches, and two additional Quakers will compete in the singles pre-qualifying rounds.

Soccer

After a strong start to the 2024 season, Penn men’s soccer (5-1-1, 0-0 Ivy) will host Columbia (0-6, 0-0 Ivy) on Saturday. Playing Columbia’s winless squad, Penn has the opportunity to notch an early 1-0 record in Ivy play. 

The Quaker’s 2024 campaign so far has included a smorgasbord of memorable results. In Penn’s season opener, the Quakers stunned No. 3 Pitt. Against city rival Temple, the Red and Blue netted a dominant 4-0 win.

Against Columbia and moving forward into the latter half of the 2024 season, watch for Penn senior Stas Korzeniowski to continue his on-the-field dominance. Korzeniowski, recently drafted to Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, has scored five of Penn’s 13 goals this season.

Field Hockey

Penn field hockey (1-5, 0-1 Ivy) faced an uphill battle to begin the 2024 season. In their first game, the Quakers hosted No. 2 North Carolina (6-0), and shortly after, played No. 13 Saint Joseph's (7-1). Following their most recent loss, a competitive 2-1 battle against Drexel decided by a pair of fourth-quarter goals, Penn will look to correct course in two upcoming weekend matchups.

On Friday, Penn travels to New Haven for a must-win game against Yale (4-2, 0-1 Ivy). In 2023, the Quakers and Bulldogs were fierce rivals, with Penn narrowly coming out victorious in both their head-to-head matchup (a 3-2 nailbiter) and the overall Ivy League standings. Penn’s fourth-place Ivy finish knocked fifth-place Yale from a post-season tournament berth, and despite many weeks of Ivy play remaining, it’s not hard to see this game as being crucial for both teams.

Win or lose, the Quakers will return home to host American University (3-5) for a Sunday matchup on Ellen Vagelos Field.

Volleyball

Penn volleyball will be seeing orange this weekend, with games against Princeton on both Friday and Saturday. The Tigers are a familiar, if unwelcome, opponent for the Quakers. Since 2015, Princeton has won all 15 rivalry matchups.

Despite Princeton’s recent dominance, Penn volleyball has plenty of reason for optimism. The Quakers lead the Ivy League in hitting percentage, are second in kills per set and assists per set, and both freshman setter Emery Moore and freshman middle blocker Adell Murray have received Ivy League Rookie of the Week nods for their recent standout performances.

Whether you tune in to Friday’s matchup at Old Nassau or Saturday’s throwdown in the Palestra, look for a reinvigorated Quaker squad to give the Tigers a run for their money.

Sprint Football

In its home opener at Franklin Field, sprint football (1-0) will play Mansfield (0-1). The Quakers lead their series with Mansfield 12-1 all-time and are looking to add another win to that number on Friday.

Fast even by the speedy standards of sprint football, freshman quarterback Michael Malone has raced to an electric start for the Quakers. Last week against St. Thomas Aquinas, Malone quickly tallied 120 passing yards, 53 rushing yards, and three rushing touchdowns, a performance for which he promptly received the Collegiate Sprint Football League’s Rookie of the Week award.

Golf

Penn women’s golf tees off this Saturday and Sunday at the Princeton Invitational. The Quakers are coming off of a red-hot performance at the Bucknell Invitational in early September, where the Red and Blue nabbed five of the top six individual spots to secure an overall team victory.

At Princeton, the Quakers will open Ivy play alongside rivals Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton. Although competition promises to be fierce, senior Debby Chang’s commanding 7-over-par 217 first-place result at Bucknell, followed by junior Bridget O'Keefe’s 9-over-par 219 second, give plenty of reason to be hopeful about Penn’s prospects.

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