After a strong season last fall, women's volleyball returns to the court this year with high expectations and lofty goals. While the team's second-place finish in the Ivy League last year was impressive, it is clear this year the team has enough talent to knock off perennial league powerhouse Penn.
The quest for the crown began this past weekend as Princeton (4-0 overall) traveled to the Morgan State Tournament in Baltimore. At the tournament the Tigers faced four non-conference opponents to judge their readiness for the league schedule. The results were incredibly positive.
The Tigers rolled through the competition, dominating each of the four teams they faced.
Princeton opened their weekend of competition on Friday against Wagner. They set a tone that would last for the remaining three games.
Seahawks wings' clipped
The Tigers dropped the first game against the Seahawks, 30-20. However, they regrouped quickly and swept the next three games to earn a 3-1 victory. They won game two by a score of 30-16, followed by a 30-15 win in game three before closing it out, 30-22, in the final game.
Ungrateful guests
The Tigers play only got better as they got set to face the tournament hosts, Morgan St., in their second game. Despite the home court advantage, the Bears were powerless in their effort to stop the strong, balanced attack put forth by the Tigers. Princeton breezed through the first game of the match, earning a 30-16 win. Game two, however, was a struggle before the Tigers escaped with a 32-30 win. Game three resembled the first one, as Princeton rolled to a 30-24 win to close out the Bears.
The next day, Princeton looked forward to continuing their winning ways as they faced Bucknell and St. Francis.
Bison stampeded
After the Tigers dominated the first game, 30-15, Bucknell responded in game two. Playing with more alertness and displaying crisper passing, the Bison crushed Princeton in game two, 30-22. It was the Tigers worst loss of the tournament.
After being knocked in the mouth, the Tigers came back strong to take both the third and the fourth games, 30-19 and 31-29, respectively.
Terriers muzzled
Princeton concluded their domination with a 3-0 victory over St. Francis. For the tournament, the Tigers dropped only two games in four matches.
The key to Princeton's success was a balanced attack. This trait also was leading factor in the Tiger's success last season.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Grumet led the team with 50 kills over four games. Senior co-captain and middle-hitter Alex Brown also played well, as she contributed 44 kills and led the team in attack percentage at .326.
Junior setter Jenny Senske led the Tigers with 9.45 assists per game. The Tiger offense ran through her in the three matches she competed in.
Freshman Emily Turner had 13 assists per game when she subbed in for Senske. Finishing in second place in the tournament was Bucknell. Despite their loss to the Tigers, the Bison defeated Morgan St., Wagner, and St. Francis to finish 3-1. Morgan St. finished 2-2, Wagner was 1-3 on the year, and St. Francis had a difficult tournament as they finished 0-4.
We're definitely very excited about this season," said senior outside hitter Ashley Weber. "We know what we need to do and we know that we can do it, so we certainly have high expectations."
The Tigers will hope to have similar success next weekend when they compete in the Colgate Invitational. The Tigers opponents will include Sienna, St. Johns, and the host Raiders.
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