"Ohh, sweet Caroline, good times never seem so good..."
Arms in the air, dancing together in a circle to Neil Diamond, the women's volleyball team looked as confident and euphoric as could be. Princeton (11-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) certainly didn't look intimidated by highly competitive and undefeated D-III Juniata (20-1).
Singing and shimmying together in small groups in between warm-up drills, the Tigers really did have something to be jubilant about, as they sat on a 10-0 record heading into Sunday's match.
Looking to maintain its own unblemished record, Juniata initially took the lead in all three games. The Tigers rallied in each game, however, and stole the match, 3-0.
The first game centered on a pair of sophomores, middle-blocker Lindsey Ensign and setter Bailey Robinson, who together proved to be an unstoppable duo. Freshman outside hitter Sheena Donohue also scored big for the Tigers in the first game. Princeton took the first game, 32-30.
Sophomore outside hitter Amber Thomas led the Eagles, while setter Beth Kozak, and outside hitter Rachael Schatz attempted to knock down Princeton with their play close to the net.
The Eagles and the Tigers battled for kills throughout the intense second game. Robinson consistently performed as a core member of the team, providing perfect sets as well as executing a kill or two of her own, and Donohue and Ensign continued their domination.
Sophomore outside hitter, Parker Henritze, who was last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year, led the team through the second game with a succession of powerful kills. The Eagles, however, committed several consecutive errors that opened up multiple opportunities for the Tigers to score. For the Eagles, Schatz, Thomas and middle-blocker Stephanie Kines aggressively battled the Tigers, but they were ultimately defeated, 30-27.
Visibly weakened in the third game, the Eagles continuously made the same attack and ball handling errors they had been prone to in the second game.
These blunders allowed Donohue, Ensign, Robinson and Henritze to seize control of the game. The Tigers, invigorated by the wins of the first two games, built on their momentum in the third game and eventually shut down Juniata, 30-25 to seal the match.
Head coach Glenn Nelson viewed Sunday's win as a harbinger of this season's success, but seemed wary of jinxing his team's winning streak. The Tigers have yet to play some of the stronger league teams.
"We're playing well now," Nelson said, "but Yale and Cornell beat us last year, so you never really know how you stand. Today was a good match. Last year Juniata killed us. We're playing a lot better."
One of the unique aspects of the Princeton team is its youth: of the 15 players, 12 are underclassmen. While some may argue that such youth would be a distinct disadvantage, the youngsters seemed to have infused energy and spirit into an already high-paced team.
The Tigers' coach and players seem to be on the same wavelength concerning Sunday's game and continuing success in the Ancient Eight. Powerhouse Henritze stresses the solidity of this year's team, something that she says the team has been working on since the pre-season.
"I think we played really well today," Henritze said. "We are playing really consistently this year, and we have a solid foundation."
Like her coach, however, Henritze admits that the Ivy League is highly competitive.
The Tigers will next take on the Big Green Oct. 6 at Dartmouth, hoping to extend its winning streak into the Ivy League season.
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