The women's volleyball team has had big problems with the Big Red all season long.
The Tigers' struggles continued on Saturday, as they were swept 3-0 by Cornell in Schenectady, NY, to end their season just short of the NCAA tournament.
Princeton, Cornell, Harvard and Yale finished as Ivy League co-champions after finishing the season with identical 10-4 league records, necessitating a four-way playoff to determine which team would get an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Playoff results
The No. 3 seeded Tigers (19-8 overall, 10-4 Ivy League) drew No. 2 Cornell (17-9, 10-4) for a first round match-up at the neutral site of Union College.
The taller Big Red dominated the entire match, defeating Princeton for the third time this season. Cornell took the first game 30-25, then moved on to dominate the second set, 30-22. In the final game, the Tigers kept it close, but ultimately dropped the final game of the match, 30-26, and saw their season come to an end.
In the other Saturday contest, Yale (17-7) triumphed over Harvard (15-10). The Elis then knocked off Cornell, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon to claim the championship and the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
In what would be their final match as Tigers, senior middle blocker Alex Brown and senior ouside hitter Ashley Weber led the team with 12 kills each. Sophomore libero Jenny McReynolds led the defense with 29 digs and junior setter Jenny Senske paced the offense with 36 assists on the day.
On the other side of the court, Big Red outside hitter Elizabeth Bishop had another big game against Princeton, leading all players with 14 kills. In the previous win over the Tigers, Bishop recorded an impressive 30 kills.
While the loss came as a disappointment, it's nothing compared to the satisfaction that came as a result of the rest of the season.
"Our loss this weekend by no means takes away from the amazing accomplishments we had this season," Weber said, "especially beating Penn twice and most importantly sharing the Ivy League Title."
Volleyball accolades
The title marked the 13th for Princeton and was the 10th under head coach Glenn Nelson. Nelson made history this season, as he recorded his 500th victory two weeks ago against Columbia.
With it, he joined former basketball coach Pete Carril and former softball coach Cindy Cohen as the only members of the 500-win club in Princeton coaching history.
Brown, McReynolds, and junior outside hitter Lauren Grumet received all-Ivy honors for their play this season. Brown was a first-team selection for the second year in as row. Grumet and McReynold were both awarded spots on the second team, the second such honor for Grumet, and the first for McReynolds.
Brown, Weber and senior outside hitter Lauren Loban all made significant contributions to the squad this season and will be missed next year. Loban was a key addition to the Tigers this season after sitting out most of last season.
For Princeton's seniors, the late season rally to climb into a tie for the league title leaves a good taste in their mouths. But extending their career a few more matches would have made that taste even sweeter.
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