The University of Pennsylvania women’s volleyball team is set to host Temple University in its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday night at The Palestra. This match marks the 15th meeting between the two programs since 2000 and their first encounter since 2022, when Temple secured a 3-1 victory. Temple has won the last five matchups, with Penn’s last win against the Owls dating back to September 2013.
Penn enters the game with a 6-3 record, having won all six matches by sweep. Last week, Penn swept NJIT, Delaware, and Saint Peter’s—marking the first time since October 2009 that they have achieved three consecutive sweeps. The Quakers currently lead the Ivy League in kills per set (15.00), assists per set (14.10), and digs per set (18.60), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.265).
Junior Zada Sanger was named Ivy League Player of the Week after earning Tournament MVP honors at the University of Delaware Invitational with 26 kills and a .523 hitting percentage across two matches. She leads Penn in hitting percentage and is third among Ivy League players at .341. Junior Bella Rittenberg was also recognized for her performance at Delaware.
Penn’s roster remains young; out of ten players who have participated in at least half of this season’s sets, only one is a senior—Anna Shohfi—while four are sophomores and two are freshmen.
This year marks Tyler Hagstrom’s first season as head coach after joining Penn from Bucknell in July following Meredith Schamun’s departure to Illinois as associate head coach. At Bucknell, Hagstrom posted a record-setting year with a program-best Patriot League win total and left as Bucknell’s all-time leader in win percentage.
The Quakers were predicted to finish fifth in this year’s Ivy League preseason media poll.
Sophomore Jenna Garner leads Penn with 93 kills this season and has recorded five double-digit dig performances along with three kill/dig double-doubles. Sanger follows closely with 92 kills and has reached double digits in that category for five straight matches.
Sophomore Adell Murray holds a .357 hitting average for the season, which rises to .409 excluding her opening performance against Colorado.
Freshman Haley Kerstetter made an impact last Saturday against Saint Peter’s by registering seven kills on a .357 hit rate and leading net defense with five blocks; she ranks second on the team for blocks behind Murray.
Freshman libero Addison Pollock recently had more than 20 digs over five straight matches before recording a total of 40 digs during last week’s games; she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week earlier this month.
Penn opened its season going 2-1 at the Anteater Classic before participating in tournaments such as Charm City Classic where they went 1-2, including wins over Lafayette but losses to Coppin State and Towson.
Nearly all key contributors from last year return for Penn after an improved campaign under former coach Schamun; they finished last season at 13-10 overall (7-7 Ivy) compared to just four wins two years prior. The team brings back almost all offensive production from last year including four players who each tallied over 100 kills.
Three returning athletes have earned All-Ivy recognition: Sanger and Murray received honorable mentions last year while Abigail Reid did so after her freshman campaign in 2022.
Additional standouts include setter Emery Moore (241 assists this season), sophomore Ellie Siskin (75 kills, eight service aces), sophomore Jenniya Lane (22 service aces last year), junior Elsa McDermott (20 aces), Reid approaching career milestones for digs, as well as significant contributions from upperclassmen Claire Deller and Jalen Tennyson—all part of a core group aiming to build on recent progress within conference play.
