Ivies see first 14-0 season

Over this two-month span, the Tigers rewrote the Princeton record books, stringing together a remarkable 20-game winning streak, becoming the first team in Ivy League history to finish the regular season 14-0 and helping lead coach Glenn Nelson to his school-record 560th career victory.

“We felt that last season we had come up short in several matches and lost some games that we should not have,” junior outside hitter Parker Henritze said. “Those disappointments created a really intense desire coming into this season to not make the same mistakes twice but also created huge expectations for us since we knew we had the experience and talent to do amazing things this year. Despite that optimism, I could never have predicted we would go undefeated in the league and achieve nearly every goal we set for ourselves. It was surprising and very gratifying.”

Henritze played a pivotal role in the team’s success, combining with junior middle blocker Lindsey Ensign, junior setter Bailey Robinson and sophomore outside hitter Sheena Donohue to form the most imposing front line in the Ivy League. The four teammates were rewarded for their outstanding efforts at the end of the season, when they all received Ivy League honors, with Henritze, the unanimous league Player of the Year, Ensign and Robinson being named to the first team and Donohue earning a spot on the second team. Senior libero Jenny McReynolds, Princeton’s backcourt anchor, was the fifth Tiger to receive all-league honors when she was named to the third team.

These accolades offer a glimpse of Princeton’s dominance throughout the season. The Tigers’ combination of intimidating and athletic frontcourt play and gritty defense was more than the rest of the Ivy League could handle, a statement supported by the fact that Princeton was only forced to play a five-game match once during the league season.

“We were not afraid to make adjustments, and that flexibility and athleticism enabled us to improve from start to finish especially after losing a few tough matches early,” Henritze said. “Both of our coaches worked really hard to push us as well and highlighted our weaknesses and then worked with us to begin adapting skills to address those issues.”

As Princeton ran roughshod over the rest of the Ivy League, numerous school records began to fall. First was the old consecutive win streak of 16, which the Tigers broke with a 3-1 win over Harvard. The very next game, Princeton defeated Brown 3-0 to give Nelson his 560th win.

“[Coach Nelson] is an institution here and an amazing coach. For us to be a part of yet another milestone in an otherwise impressive career was wonderful for us to contribute to,” Henritze said. “It gave us a focus outside of ourselves that also motivated us throughout the season.”

Five days after leading Nelson to his record-setting win, the Tigers capped off their perfect Ivy League season with a 3-1 win over Penn.

“My greatest memory would have to be beating Penn in our last regular season Ivy League game,” Ensign said. “Even though we were away, our dedicated fans followed us to the Palestra, which made the night much more memorable.”

Despite virtually rewriting the school record book, the one mark the Tigers could not achieve will create ample motivation as Princeton approaches the 2008 season. With their 3-1 loss to Delaware in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Tigers failed to capture the first NCAA tournament win in team history. With that being said, Princeton’s season was certainly one for the ages.

“The bar has definitely been set for next year and we will definitely be the Ivy League team with a target on our backs,” Ensign said. “I think that if we continue to train hard over the off-season and really focus when we return for practice in August, we will continue in our success and possibly go farther in the NCAA tournament.”

With all but one starter returning from this year’s team, it would be unwise to close those record books just yet.