Penn volleyball played Yale in New Haven, CT on Nov. 2.
Credit: Chenyao LiuPenn volleyball got on the board early, but ultimately didn't have the "dog in them" to secure the win against Yale.
Saturday’s away game on Yale’s turf did not result in a win, but the team certainly clawed tooth and nail against the Bulldogs. Despite the final score of 1-3, volleyball coach Meredith Schamun was proud of the team’s ability to fight against the top-seeded team in this year’s Ivy League play.
The Quakers, unsurprisingly, started off the first set quite strong. Freshman right-setter Jenniya Lane led the team with an impressive ace to secure the first point of the game. As the set went on, notable kills were made by freshman outside hitter Ellie Siskin, freshman middle blocker Adell Murray, and freshman outside hitter Jenna Garner. While the set certainly was competitive, Penn’s confidence was unmatched by the Bulldogs' hesitant play and the score came out to 25-22.
Afterwards, coach Schamun remarked that while “Yale is obviously the strongest team in our league, we keep getting them towards the beginning of our games in the Ivy league each time.” However, between the first and second set, energies shifted and Yale seemed to miraculously get its groove back.
While the Quakers started the second set off with another ace — unsurprisingly, as the team leads the conference in aces this season — things did not continue as planned. The set included impressive kills by Murray and Garner, but the Bulldogs adapted to their success, changing strategies to strengthen their defense. Halfway through, the score quickly grew to a consistent 5 to 7 point lead for Yale, shifting away from the previously close point-by-point set before. In the end, the Bulldogs won the second set 25-15.
The third set, while ultimately going in favor of Yale 25-14, highlighted some great kills by sophomore right-side hitter Bella Rittenberg, and sophomore outside hitter Zada Sanger. Both players brought some heat and energy back into the offense, but in postgame remarks coach Schamun mentioned that “We didn't play our best volleyball tonight, I think we came up a bit short. We battled well, we just weren’t as offensively strong as we needed to be across the board.”
Despite not playing their best in the second and third set Saturday night, the Quakers certainly put up a fight in the fourth and final set. In fact, there was never more than a two point lead until the very last point was scored. Rittenberg, Murray, and Siskin all managed to reach eight kills total in this final set and freshman setter Emery Moore continued to dish out 30 assists by the end of the game. The set ended at 21-25 with a small defensive mishap.
Looking to the rest of the Ivy League play season, the Quakers should still remain hopeful, as coach Schamun certainly is.
“I think the battle and the fight we put in tonight sets us up really well to go up against Cornell and Columbia next weekend," Schamun said. "We get them back at home. Going on the road with Harvard and Dartmouth at the end, we're battling with those teams to try to make it into the tournament, and our team is hungry so I’m really excited for us to peak at the right time.”
With the right determination and resilience, the Quakers are poised nicely as the fifth seed to play their way up in the rankings in the weeks to come.
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