Women's volleyball makes quick work of St. Francis

Last night the women's volleyball team dominated in a way that often made it seem as if the Tigers were playing nearby Princeton High School, not visiting St. Francis.

The Tigers showed little mercy in sweeping the Terriers in three straight sets in a non-conference game at Dillon Gym.

Princeton craved a win after dropping a big conference game last Friday to rival Penn, the two-time Ivy League defending champions.

"The girls were pretty fired up to play," head coach Glenn Nelson said.

This was evident as the Tigers balanced a solid defense with a hard-hitting offense, resulting in three easy sets that quickly sent St. Francis packing.

The offensive attack was led by junior middle blocker Alex Brown. Brown was being fed consistently by sophomore setter Jenny Senske, and the two were able to almost singlehandedly lead Princeton to victory.

Princeton annually plays St. Francis, which usually presents itself as a solid opponent. This year, however, the Tigers were too much for the Terriers.

"It's a game we know we should be able to win," senior outside hitter Kellie Cramm said. "It's a test to make sure we can win three games."

The Tigers passed that test without breaking a sweat. Momentum turned in Princeton's favor after winning a volley that broke a 6-6 tie in the first game. From there, the Tigers scored five consecutive points and dominated the rest of the set that ended with a lopsided 30-17 score.

St. Francis dug itself in a hole early in the second set, going down 11-0 before finally getting on the board. The Terriers wouldn't get any closer as the combination of their own miscues and Princeton's firepower resulted in an easy 30-10 victory for the Tigers.

The Tigers seemed unbeatable going into the third set, although St. Francis played its best ball in that final game and even built a 13-10 lead at one point. This advantage was short lived, however, as two kills from Brown turned the momentum back in Princeton's favor for good. Princeton showed its superiority and finished off the Terriers with a 30-19 victory in the third and final set.

"It's difficult to get up for matches like that. We played okay. Things were clicking for the most part," Cramm said.

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Princeton will look to repeat tonight's impressive performance and put its loss to Penn behind it. The Tigers have two tough conference games coming up this weekend against Ivy league opponents Brown and Yale.