Women's volleyball falls to Harvard and Dartmouth

In their first Ivy League road trip of the season, women’s volleyball fell to both Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Together, the Crimson and the Big Green, both strong teams within the Ivy League, managed to keep the Tigers winless in conference play, who now tie with Cornell for last in the league.

On Friday, the Tigers arrived at Boston’s Malkin Athletic Center to face Harvard, last year’s Ivy League women’s volleyball co-champions. As Harvard had lost to Dartmouth a week earlier, both the Crimson and the Tigers saw Friday as an opportunity for their first Ivy League victory of the season, heightening the stakes of the match.

The Crimson went off to fast and early 10-5 leads both in the first and second half. While the Tigers were eventually able to narrow the lead in both sets, the numerous errors, 12 in the first and 10 in the second, stifled the Orange and Black comeback.

Then, in the third set, the Tigers used the two earlier losses to fuel their renewed energy. Challenging the Crimson for the majority of the set, the two teams stood even at 20-20 late in the match. Crimson outside hitter Kathleen Wallace led her team with three kills in the final stretch to conclude the night.

Following the loss to the Crimson, the Tigers sought to capitalize on the Big Green Sunday afternoon. Finishing sixth in last year’s Ivy League standings, three seeds below the Tigers, Dartmouth presented a prime opportunity to record the season’s first win.

Accordingly, the Tigers demonstrated their prowess in a first set victory. Demonstrating aggression and precision, Princeton started the game with an early 15-8 lead. While the Big Green eventually rebounded to narrow the lead, clutch kills from junior middle blocker Brittany Ptak, junior outside hitter Cara Mattaliano and senior right side Kendall Peterkin gave the Tigers their first set victory in two nights.

The second set proved to be a much closer down-to-the-wire battle. Tied at 25-25, Princeton unfortunately closed the set on two consecutive errors to even the match at a set a piece. Dartmouth would eventually capitalize on the change in momentum, never looking back, and win two consecutive sets over the Tigers.

Perhaps the bright side of the winless weekend was the impressive performance of the team’s rookies. In the Crimson game, freshman middle blocker Nnenna Ibe recorded eight kills and two blocks. Then in the Dartmouth game, freshman outside hitter Brooke Hershberger tallied nine kills while freshman Claire Nussbaum also excelled with 19 assists.

Looking forward, Princeton will face Columbia and Cornell at home next weekend. Tigers fans can hope the support of a home audience will elevate the team to its first Ivy victory of the season.