For women’s volleyball, Ivy League play lasts 14 games, each one a critical opportunity to help push the team toward an NCAA tournament appearance. Through their first seven showings, however, there seemed far more questions than answers. At 3-4, their odds of making the tournament seemed iffy at best.
The Tigers, however, apparently had no plans to continue that trend, and are within reach of the Ivy League title.
With a convincing victory over defending league champion Yale and a 3-0 sweep of the Brown Bears, the Tigers (13-8 overall, 8-4 Ivy League) have pushed their winning streak up to five, and are just a game behind Harvard for first place in the Ancient Eight.
As Yale (12-9, 7-5) came to visit Princeton on Friday, the defending champions had reason to be confident going in. The last time these two teams met, in New Haven, Conn., the Bulldogs defeated the Tigers in three sets, albeit close ones. Indeed, Yale victories over Princeton have been commonplace for much of recent memory — going into this match, the Tigers had not beaten the Bulldogs since the fall of 2011.
They were in for a severe shock, however, when stepping into Dillon Gym. The Tigers came out of the gate on fire, taking the opening set to the tune of 25-16. They would only continue to put the pressure on the Bulldogs as the second set was even more lopsided. The Tigers pushed their advantage out to 2-0 as they downed the Bulldogs 25-14.
Watching the Tigers take the second set over the opponents, one could see such a palpable energy coming from the team. Heading into the third set, the Tigers seemed far more at ease on the court than their grim-faced opponents. The time, it seemed, had come for the Tigers to exact their revenge.
The Bulldogs did not go down without a fight, taking a nail-biter of a set 25-23 to bring themselves within striking distance of tying things up. The Tigers, however, did not let their golden opportunity slip away, finishing off Yale 25-20 in the final set for the 3-1 victory.
Riding off a decisive victory, the Tigers had little time to rest as they played again the next night against the Brown Bears (10-14, 4-8). A victory would hold extra significance for the Tigers on the night as they honored their senior players: libero Annie Ferlmann, libero Sarah Daschbach, right side hitter Kendall Peterkin and middle blocker Stephanie Marani. The Tigers certainly made their final home game an enjoyable one by taking down the Bears 3-0, winning the sets 25-20, 25-18 and 25-23.
With another phenomenal weekend, the Tigers have only Cornell and Columbia to face before the regular season comes to a close. However, in terms of their chances of making the tournament, they will need some good fortune in order to extend their season. With league-leading Harvard at 9-3 and Tigers at 8-4, a spot in the tournament isn’t guaranteed for the Tigers even if they win both games next weekend. Nevertheless, with the Dartmouth Big Green at 8-4 as well in league play going into the final weekend, there certainly won’t be a shortage of excitement in the last leg of the battle for the Ivy League crown.
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