Women's volleyball finds its stride, picks up four key league victories

While most of the students at Princeton went home for Fall Break and stopped learning for a week, the women's volleyball team (12-7 overall, 6-3 Ivy League) stayed on campus and won four 3-0 matches, learning how to finish off its opponents.

The first weekend of fall break, the Tigers came out swinging with 3-0 defeats of Dartmouth (7-13, 2-8 Ivy) and Harvard (9-11, 2-8 Ivy) on the road.

Contrary to what Dartmouth's record may show, the Big Green provided a challenge for the Tigers, scoring 28, 27, and 24 points in their three defeats.

The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week that weekend, freshman middle blocker Alex Brown, had a strong performance again with 11 kills and a team-high 18 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Kellie Cramm chipped in with a team-high 16 kills.

Harvard proved a less formidable opponent for Princeton, losing 30-20, 30-25, and 30-25.

Freshman outside hitter Ashley Weber led Princeton with 16 kills, a performance that helped her to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors last week, the second straight time a Tiger has held the title.

"Our freshmen are stepping up big time and we're playing well as a team," Cramm said.

"We're working together," Weber added. "We have a lot of chemistry right now and we are feeding off each other."

The pair of wins set the stage for this weekend, when the Tigers, on a four-game winning streak, faced two opponents that had defeated them earlier in the year, Columbia (11-8, 5-5 Ivy) and Cornell (13-9, 5-5 Ivy).

Weber took control of the first match against Columbia with seven digs and a team-high 16 kills, while Cramm provided 14 digs of her own.

The Tigers took the three games by scores of 30-20, 30-21, and 30-26 to cruise past the Lions in a game that was much different than the contest earlier in the season.

Princeton came out inspired against Cornell, avenging an early-season loss, and blew the Big Red away. Cornell only managed 18 points in the first game of the match, followed by 22- and 26-point performances.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers overpowered the Lions and the Big Red, to whom they had lost 3-1 and 3-2, respectively, earlier in the year, with even play and strategy.

No single player had more than 16 kills in each of the four games over Fall Break, showing that the Tigers are spreading the ball around to win. In contrast, in a loss to St. John's earlier in the season, Cramm had 20 kills.

"We are opening up our offense and freeing up our outside hitters," Cramm said. "That way our setter, [senior] Ana [Yoerg], can move the ball around. We are playing like we should have been all year."

The chemistry on the team may be due to a lineup that has finally started to solidify in the last few weeks of the season. Probably the greatest impact on the Princeton lineup has been the loss due to injury and subsequent return of junior outside hitter Michelle Buffum.

"Michelle has an incredibly big impact. She adds to the whole level of play," Cramm said.

Princeton is in third place in the Ivy League, trailing Penn (8-1 Ivy) and Brown (8-2 Ivy), both of whom the Tigers play in the next two weeks.

"We have five matches left and every single one is important," Weber said. "Penn and Brown are our main rivals, but we can't relax for any game. We have to come out ready to play."

Unfortunately for the Tigers, winning all their games will not guarantee the Ivy League spot in the NCAA Tournament if Penn only loses one game for the rest of the year.

"We're hoping Brown can beat Penn, so we will be in a three way tie for first (if we win all our remaining games)," Cramm said. "Those early season losses are frustrating now."

The volleyball team spent Fall Break learning how to finish its matches — and not a moment too soon, for a bid to the NCAA tournament will be on the line over the coming weeks.