LAWRENCEVILLE — Coming into the Bronc Invitational, the women's volleyball team had nothing to prove — and prove nothing it did.
In a sometimes disappointing set of matches, the Tigers went 1-2 over two days and finished up their pre-Ivy League season with an 8-3 overall record.
Princeton opened the tournament Friday afternoon with a match against Rider, who jumped out to a two-game lead. The Pricneton offense shot itself in the foot in the first two games with unforced errors, a theme throughout the tournament. The strong Tiger defense was all that kept Princeton in the match. Finally, the offense woke up in the third game. Senior outside hitter Lauren Grumet led Princeton's attack to a 30-28 win and would finish the match with 14 kills.
Rider, however, had caught the Tigers on a bad day, outblocking and outgunning Princeton on its way to a 3-1 match victory after winning a close fourth game. Down two games to one and needing to sweep the Broncs to win, Princeton fell in the fourth game to the Broncs 30-27.
The disappointment after the Rider loss was clear.
"This isn't even close to how good we are — we have so much potential," senior outside hitter and co-captain Ashley Weber said.
"We came out and thought we could sleepwalk through the match," head coach Glenn Nelson said. "Rider played smart and played defense like us."
A strong defensive stand for the Tigers helped them grind out a 3-2 victory in their next match against Seton Hall. Sophomore libero Jenny McReynolds and senior outside hitter Lauren Loban combined to give the Tigers 69 digs in the second match.
The Tigers and the Pirates traded wins and losses for the first four games, with Seton Hall forcing a fifth game after a 30-24 game-four win. Princeton fought back from an early deficit and maintained a four-point cushion — starting at 11-7 — to end the final game, 15-11. With that win came a 3-2 match win over Seton Hall. Junior setter Jenny Senske contributed an impressive 51 assists to the Tigers' attack.
Senior middle blocker Alex Brown, while pleased with the victory, noted that "we definitely could have put [Seton Hall] away sooner."
In their final game of the tournament, the Tigers faced a very physical Delaware team.
Princeton's game seemed to be sharpening after the win over Seton Hall. The Tigers won the first two games easily, 30-25 and 30-17, respectively.
But then they fell apart.
On the verge of sweeping Delaware in three games, Princeton dropped the third game, 30-23, and the fourth, 30-17.
Delaware was able to catch the Tigers out of position, allowing the Hens to use their advantages in size and strength. The Tigers, on the other hand, had trouble finishing their attacks.
In the dramatic fifth and final game, Princeton had a 13-12 lead when a Tiger slammed the ball over the net for what appeared to be a point, the ball having landed on the line. However, the referee made a bad line call, tying the game at 12 and giving the serve to Delaware. The Blue Hens took advantage of the momentum and won, 16-14.
In their last pre-Ivy matches on the season, despite playing poorly at times, the Tigers got some things they wanted.
"Playing two five-game matches was good for us," Nelson said.
Princeton opens its Ivy League season against Penn this Friday. Co-captain Brown is ready for the match against the Quakers: "Bring it on."
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