The University of Pennsylvania women’s volleyball team is set to begin its 2025 season at the Anteater Classic, a tournament hosted by UC Irvine. The Quakers will play three matches over the weekend: against Colorado on Friday, Fresno State on Saturday, and UC Irvine on Sunday.
This season marks the debut of head coach Tyler Hagstrom, who joined Penn after five years at Bucknell. During his tenure there, Hagstrom led the Bison to a 21-5 record last year and left as the program’s all-time leader in win percentage (59-48, .551). He was hired by Penn on July 16 following Meredith Schamun’s departure to become associate head coach at the University of Illinois.
Penn enters the season with most of its core roster intact. The team returns over 98 percent of its kills and service aces from last year, as well as significant percentages of blocks and digs. Four players who recorded more than 100 kills last season are back, along with five players who each had at least 100 digs.
Last year under Schamun, Penn finished with a 13-10 overall record and went 7-7 in Ivy League play. These totals represented a notable improvement from the previous season’s four wins overall and two in conference play.
The Ivy League preseason media poll picked Penn to finish fifth this year. The poll placed Yale first, followed by Princeton, Brown, and Cornell.
Several returning players have earned All-Ivy recognition during their careers. Junior outside hitter Zada Sanger and sophomore middle blocker Adell Murray received honorable mention honors last season; senior Abigail Reid earned similar recognition after her freshman year in 2022.
Sanger has led Penn in kills for two consecutive seasons. Other key returners include junior Bella Rittenberg (215 kills last year), Murray (209 kills and a team-high 54 blocks as a freshman), setter Emery Moore (772 assists), and Ellie Siskin (167 kills).
The Quakers’ roster features seven players from California. No captains have been announced for the upcoming season.
Penn will face Colorado for the first time ever at this tournament. The match against Fresno State will be only their second meeting; Fresno State won their first encounter in 1999. Against UC Irvine, Penn is seeking its first win after three previous losses dating back to 1988, with their last meeting occurring in 1997—all matches played in Irvine.
All home games, road Ivy matches, and select non-conference road games will be available via ESPN+, which requires a subscription for access. More information about ESPN+ can be found at https://plus.espn.com/.
For updates throughout the season, fans can follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram or visit PennAthletics.com.
“Penn is in its first season under head coach Tyler Hagstrom, who played collegiately for the Cal Baptist men. He is still just getting to know his players, as he was hired on July 16 after previous head coach Meredith Schamun left the Quakers to become the associate head coach at the University of Illinois.”
“Hagstrom comes to Penn after a successful five-year run at Bucknell that included the Bison going 21-5 last year and setting a program record with 13 wins in Patriot League play. Hagstrom left Bucknell as the program’s all-time leader in win percentage (59-48, .551).”
“Penn was picked fifth in the Ivy League’s preseason media poll, which featured two voters from each of the schools. The Quakers finished with 58 voting points and finished the poll behind Yale (121 including 9 first-place votes), Princeton (119/7), Brown (88) and Cornell (79).”
“Penn made a massive leap last season under Schamun, going 13-10 overall and finishing Ivy League play at 7-7. In both cases, the win totals more than tripled from the previous season when the Quakers finished 4-20 overall and 2-12 in Ivy play.”
“Even better: almost the entire core returns. Penn returns 98.2 percent of its kills, 94.0 percent of its blocks, 93.0 percent of its digs, and 98.7 percent of its service aces from a year ago. The Quakers return four players who had more than 100 kills last year and three others who had more than 50; five players who finished with at least 100 digs; and six players who ended the campaign with more than 20 blocks. Penn also returns its top two setters.”
“In looking at last year’s stats, there were 11 women who played in at least 62 of Penn’s 88 sets. Only one of those players does not return—Kat Alexander, who graduated after playing in 66 sets as a libero/defensive specialist. And yet the Quakers still remain relatively young: of the remaining 10, only L/DS Abigail Reid (67) and setter Anna Shohfi (63) are seniors.”
“For updates throughout the season on Penn volleyball news or results follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram or visit www.PennAthletics.com.”
