Women's volleyball looks to block Harvard, Dartmouth

Though the season is still young, the women's volleyball team heads into action this weekend knowing that its Ivy League title hopes could be on the line.

Princeton (11-4 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) will host two conference games in Dillon Gymnasium, taking on Dartmouth (4-10, 1-3) on Friday night before battling Harvard (9-5, 4-0) on Saturday.

For Dartmouth, which sits seventh in the Ivy League standings, this game represents a chance to garner its second conference win. For the Tigers, currently third in the league, the weekend represents a potentially treacherous step in their chase to regain the crown.

Although the Dartmouth match is first on the calendar, it is hard not to look ahead to the contest against league-leading Harvard, which has yet to lose a game in conference. The Tigers, however, are wary of this tendency. Attributing its loss to Brown last week to focusing on the Yale game too much, Princeton does not plan on making the same mistake again.

"Dartmouth is usually underrated," junior middle blocker Brittany Wood said. "But we have had trouble with them in the past because they are a big team."

In fact, every team thus far has posed a threat to the Tigers due to Princeton's meager blocking production. The Tigers recognize this and have been working on blocking during practice.

"We used to have a system where the blockers directed the hit to a certain spot," sophomore outside hitter Jenny McReynolds said. "But that doesn't work as well against a quick team."

Though placing a lot more strain on the back line, this sytem has been effective at times, as it helped the Tigers beat both Penn and Yale. A lot of the responsibility has fallen on McReynolds, the goto-girl for digs this season, with a team-high 357 digs and an average of 5.7 per game.

The coaching staff has been tweaking the blocking schemes in order to be more effective defensively. Wood is one of the blockers to watch. With her athleticism, Wood has the ability to make a momentum-changing block that can fire up a complacent team. She has been seeing more reps in a blocking position during practice.

Though defense has been the focus of practice, the offense should not go unwatched. With four Tigers having already amassed more than 100 kills, Princeton looks to keep both Dartmouth and Harvard on their toes.

Perhaps the Tigers' greatest asset is their versatility. Though the players embrace their designated roles, defensive specialists can be found garnering impressive offensive stats while offensive specialists can be found doing well defensively. The stats speak to the Tigers' incredible team unity, who fight for each other to keep balls alive.

Dartmouth is the polar opposite of Princeton. With only 699 kills — compared to Princeton's 873 — Dartmouth has had problems this season scoring points. Their defensive numbers are also not very flashy. With only 901 digs and 91 blocks, Dartmouth has struggled to control its opponents' attacks. In their first league win against Columbia, however, Dartmouth's defense began clicking. Now the team looks hungry for another win.

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Harvard will be a different story. The league-leading Crimson has gone undefeated in four home games. Harvard is noted for its offensive precision. Having five girls with more than 100 kills, Harvard has a high attack percentage (.291 to Princeton's .191). This disparity can be attributed to a dominant Crimson trio of seniors Kaego Ogbechie, Nilly Schweitzer, and freshman phenom Laura Mahon. Kaego leads the team with 196 points and 159 kills.

The Tigers are strong offensively, defensively, and mentally going into the weekend. If Princeton can win the long rallies and prevent its opponents from going on long runs, the Tigers could escape this weekend in the driver's seat of the Ivy League race.