W. volleyball to compete in Colgate Invitational

Ah, the joys of growing pains. Every sports team gets them at the beginning of every season. With most sports this isn't a problem, since all the teams start at the same time and work out their issues together like a large, dysfunctional family. Princeton teams, however, thanks to the University's late starting date, do not benefit from this early season growth and thus find themselves starting their season against already experienced squads.

The women's volleyball team met with such consequences last weekend, going 1-2 against teams playing their ninth or tenth match of the season. Since the Tigers were without team leader, senior outside hitter Kellie Cramm, the results were understandable. Now, with the return of Cramm and a bit of experience under its belt, Princeton looks to continue its pre-Ivy preparation and maybe add a few wins this weekend at the Colgate Invitational.

"Kellie's back. Everything in practice looks good. It's all going well," sophomore outside hitter Lauren Grumet said of the team's ongoing development.

With Cramm back in the lineup, a team goal of three wins for the weekend doesn't seem out of reach.

The first team the Tigers face will be Canisius (4-7). While the Golden Griffins promise to be no pushover, they seem beatable. Earlier this season, the team dropped a match in straight games to St. John's, the powerful team Princeton managed to take a game from without the two key factors of Cramm or more than a day's worth of matchplay experience. Though Canisius has won its last two matches, the Tigers have a good shot at keeping that from turning into a winning streak. One caveat: the Golden Griffins did rally to beat Long Island University, 3-2, on Sept. 5 — a team that Princeton fell to in three games last weekend. The match could be a tough one.

Next on the schedule is LaSalle (5-6). Once again, the Tigers will be looking at a squad that is not having a spectacular year but that has had plenty of time to work out all the kinks from which Princeton might still find itself suffering. The only connection between the two teams thus far has been LIU, which also dropped the Explorers in three games at the beginning of their season.

A pair of six-footers, Robyn Wright and Lauren Woods, lead LaSalle's attack. Each puts up impressive stats but, like the rest of the squad, Wright and Woods are capable players that Princeton should be able to handle. As with Canisisus, the result of this match will depend largely on how much the Tigers have benefited from their first weekend of play.

The final squad on the schedule is Colgate (0-10), the tournament host. To put it simply, this match should end with a big 'W' for Princeton. The hapless Raiders are not having what anyone would call a stellar beginning to their season. After playing ten matches, the team is just one win away from its first victory.

Only once, in fact, has the team managed to take its opponent to more than three games. It's not as if Colgate has been matching up against only powerhouses, either; Canisius is one of the teams that has already felled them in straight games. With no disrespect to the Raiders, this should be a chance for Princeton head coach Glenn Nelson to give the young players some experience and for the team to put a nice ending to what otherwise could be a very hard-fought weekend.

This tournament, however, like the St. John's Invite before it and the Juniata Tournament that is to follow, is not exactly a must-win situation. While, as Grumet put it, "three wins would be nice," they are by no means essential to the team's eventual goal. It is the Ivy conference play that follows these tournaments that really matters, and since the team's record outside the Ivy League pales in importance when compared to its in-conference one, the games this weekend function almost like a preseason. Just as they did at St. John's, the coaching staff will probably continue to "mix things up and see what works best." The freedom provided by this early chance to experiment will serve Princeton well when it does get to the games that count, starting with Penn at home on Oct. 10. Though the lineup will surely be in flux, one thing is certain — Kellie Cramm will be back in it, and everyone will be able to breathe a little easier thanks to that.