Women's volleyball seeks revenge for last year's five-game loss to Fordham

Coming off a tough Ivy defeat at the hands of Dartmouth over the weekend, the women's volleyball team will look to bounce back tonight when it hosts Fordham in Dillon Gym at 7:30 pm.

The loss dropped the Tigers' overall record to 10-5 on the year, and more importantly to 1-1 in the Ivy League. The Big Green currently sit atop the Ivy League with an undefeated 2-0 record, while Princeton is stuck in a log jam in third place. Harvard (7-9, 0-2) — which Princeton beat Friday night — is the only winless squad in league play, and sits at the bottom of the conference.

The Rams (4-12, 2-4 Atlantic 10 Conference) should provide the Tigers with an opportunity to regain some confidence for the remainder of the Ivy season. Fordham has won only one of its last seven games, and that was against Atlantic-10 bottom-feeder La Salle.

Fordham possesses an extremely young lineup, featuring only one senior — middle hitter Melissa Langness — and two juniors, setter Tara Jones and middle hitter Kelly Hierlmeier.

Last year, the Rams and Tigers got tangled up in a ferocious rumble in the Bronx. Underdog Fordham jumped on the favored Tigers, claiming the first two games, 15-8 and 15-6. Spurred on by the stellar play of Erika Hansen '00 — who finished the game with 15 kills and 17 digs — Princeton took games three and four by identical 15-13 scores. Tired, both teams dragged on through the fifth game. In the end the Rams brought the crowd at Rose Hill Gymnasium to its feet with a dramatic 16-14 win in the deciding game.

Princeton returns to Ivy play this weekend when it hosts Yale (11-4, 1-1) Friday and Brown (9-5, 1-1) Saturday.