PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The Lafayette College volleyball team lost to Coppin State (25-20, 25-20, 25-18) and Penn (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) on the first day of the Penn Tournament.

MATCH 1

The first opponent the Leopards faced were the Bald Eagles. Coming into the match, Coppin State had a record of 6-1 and Lafayette was 2-2.

The Leopards got off to a quick start in the first set, going up 2-0 thanks to a service error and a kill from senior Phoebe Glass assisted by junior Carson Grace Toomer. Toomer finished the match with a team-high 15 digs while adding two assists.  

Coppin State eventually pulled back in front, taking the score to 8-6. From there, the Bald Eagles went on a 5-0 run with Ammaarah Williams picking up two kills. Williams finished the match with a team-high 14 kills, hitting .171. Lafayette couldn't recover from the deficit losing the first set 25-20.

Lafayette jumped out to an early 4-3 lead to begin the second set. Junior Abby Nieporte made it 5-3 with a kill assisted by Toomer. Coppin State recovered thanks to a pair of kills from Geraldyn Palacios. Coppin State would not drop the lead from there on out, winning the set 25-20.

Coppin State kept its momentum going into the third set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. The Bald Eagles didn't look back, winning the third set 25-18.
 
MATCH 2

Coming into the Leopards' match against Penn, the Quakers were looking for their first win of the season.

Out of the gates, Penn got out to a 5-0 lead. Zada Sanger picked up two kills both assisted by Jordan Armstrong who finished with 34 assists. Sanger finished the match with a team-high 15 kills hitting .314.

The Leopards began to claw their way back, bringing the score to 13-9 thanks to a kill from freshman Irelynd Lorenzen assisted by fellow freshman Anna Van Wyk. Lorenzen finished with three kills, hitting .333.

Penn's offense continued to fire on all cylinders, leading the Quakers to take the first set 25-18.

Coming out of the break, the contest was very back-and-forth. The second set had four tie scores and two lead changes.

The Leopards were down five with Penn only three points away from the set point. A quick kill from Lorenzen and two attack errors from Penn brought the Leopards within two points at 21-19.

However, Penn took the set 25-20 after both teams exchanged attack errors late in the set.

The Sanger and Armstrong combination proved to be too much for the Leopards in the third set in a 25-17 final.

The Leopards are back in action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against the Quakers.