Pair of victories puts women's volleyball atop Ivy League

After winning three of its four matches during Fall Break last week, the women's volleyball team is now No. 1 in the Ivy League, boasting a seven-game home winning streak.

On Oct. 27, Princeton (16-8 overall, 7-1 Ivy League) hosted league rival Columbia in its second-to-last league match of the season. The Tigers struggled at the beginning against a strong Lion attack and fell, 16-14, in the first game. Princeton quickly bounced back to avenge this loss and trampled Columbia (16-9, 1-6) in the next three games, 15-5, 15-9, 15-3.

Offensively, the Tigers dominated the net behind the aggressive play of senior captain and outside hitter Sabrina King, who swung for 22 kills. The Princeton defense controlled the backcourt with consistent passing from King and freshman rightside Kellie Cramm — both of whom posted 16 digs — allowing junior setter Ana Yoerg to set the pace at the net with a match-high 52 assists.

With their 3-1 victory over Columbia, the Tigers were on fire when they returned to Dillon Gym the following day to face their last Ivy opponent of the season — Cornell. Though this match-up had promised to be the determining contest for the top slot in the league, Cornell (15-8, 4-3) had fallen the night before to Penn (21-7, 5-2), guaranteeing the Tigers sole possession of first place.

Final countdown

While the stakes of the match had dropped, the tension on the court remained high as the Tigers battled it out against a solid Big Red team. Cornell jumped to the lead in both the first and second games, before Princeton stormed back to claim both games 15-7. With the match on the line, the Tigers turned up the heat to defeat the Big Red, 15-12, in the third game.

As always, powerful hitting and steady digging helped Princeton dominate the court, but perhaps most impressive was the Tigers' aggressive serving. Princeton fired away at the service line and outserved its opponent with a season-high 11 aces in the match.

"The Cornell and Columbia matches went really well," Yoerg said. "We put a lot of effort put into the games because they were our last Ivy showing before the [Ivy League] tournament. It was a matter of pride to show them what we are capable of before next weekend, when it really matters."

Last Wednesday, Princeton continued its home-match winning streak with an easy three-game victory over local rival Rider —15-10, 16-14, 15-9. King's explosive hitting again led the Tiger attack, while defensive specialists junior Martha Moore and sophomores Anne Ziegler and McCoy Klink stepped in with steady digging. Princeton took advantage of the non-league match against the weaker Broncs (1-24) to change its lineup a bit — freshman setter Marissa Becker replaced Yoerg and ran a 6-2 offense with fellow freshman Kerry Song.

Thursday the Tigers' seven-game winning streak was brought to a halt as they hit the road to take on a tough Fairfield team (21-5). The much stronger Fairfield offense overpowered Princeton at the net with 42 kills to Princeton's 23, and its defense out-dug the Tigers, 40-22.

"Fairfield was a great team — very athletic, hard hitters," Brown said. "We played with them some, but struggled to put points on the board. We don't see very many teams who are that good."

Though Princeton lost in three games — 15-5, 15-3, 15-5 — the Tigers do not consider the loss a severe damper on the season. Instead, they are focusing their energies on next weekend's Ivy Championships in Cambridge, Mass., where the winner will receive a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Princeton concludes its regular season tonight with its final home match of the year against non-conference foe SUNY-Stony Brook.