PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle volleyball team opened weekend competition in the Big 5 Tournament against Penn at the Palestra on Friday. The Explorers fell to the Quakers in a 0-3 finish.
 
The Explorers opened set one going back and forth with the Quakers, guided by a pair of kills from Ashley Felton and Madison Kuch.  The set stayed tight until Penn pulled ahead at 11-11 with two back-to-back four-point runs. The Explorers were able to answer with a three point run at 13-19 but trailed for the remainder of the set. The Quakers took the first set 21-25 to lead the game 0-1.
 
Penn took a four point run at 6-8 to gain control early in set two.  The Explorers were unable to recover despite two kills from Ashley Felton and back-to-back kills from Bryanna Davis. The Explorers fell behind as Penn surged ahead and took the set 21-25.
 
The Explorers lagged in the final set and Penn was able to capture set three 19-25 to win the match. The Quakers jumped ahead at 3-3 to gain a three-point lead that they did not give up for the rest of the set.
 
Senior Felton led the Explorers with nine kills in the match, while Kuch recorded eight kills of her own. Jensen Sharrits led the match with 19 digs and freshman Hayley Belcik posted 11.
 
Devin Corah and Catherine Edgington led the match in blocks, posting four each. Corah also tallied two aces for the Explorers.
 
The Explorers will return to Tom Gola tomorrow to face Temple at 11:00 AM in day two of the Big 5 Tournament. La Salle will then close the tournament against Villanova at 7:30 PM.