On the hunt to extend their three-game winning streak, the Tigers will face the Owls for the first time in nearly 10 years tonight in Philadelphia. No current Tigers have ever faced Temple or seen tapes of its games, leaving them in the dark about the Owls’ playing style.
“Coach [Glenn] Nelson’s philosophy is to play our side of the net and play it well,” senior setter Bailey Robinson said. “We don’t need to watch hours of video before a game, we just need to play well.”
This philosophy of focusing on your own game instead of scouting your opponents seems to permeate Princeton’s roster, giving players confidence in their ability instead of fear of what their rivals will bring to the court.
“I have no idea how Temple plays,” senior middle blocker Lindsey Ensign said. “We pretty much do the same thing in every tournament we play. Watch the other team warm up a little, then just completely focus on our side of the net.”
With six returning starters, including three first-team All-Ivy selections from last season, the Tigers have plenty of firepower to back up their confidence. Ensign was recently named the Ivy League Player of the Week after notching 46 kills while maintaining an efficient .549 hitting percentage at last weekend’s Rose Hill Classic.
If Princeton were to take a closer glance across the net, however, it might find even more reason to feel secure about tonight’s match. Though the Owls are led by the winningest coach in Temple volleyball history, Bob Bertucci, they have not made it to the NCAA tournament since 2002 and finished 10-16 overall and 9-4 in the Atlantic 10 last season. In contrast, the Tigers have advanced to NCAAs five times since 1994 and finished last year 21-3 overall and 14-0 in the Ivy League.
“Statistically, we are probably ranked higher than Temple,” Robinson said. “But you never know who is going to win. We always struggle to beat teams we should be able to beat in three games, in three games. Hopefully, we will do better against Temple.”
The Tigers’ evidenced this struggle to beat lower-ranked teams last weekend in their final match of the Rose Hill Classic against Manhattan (0-6). Though Princeton won the first two games, 25-22, 25-21, the Tigers struggled with the Jaspers’ style of play and dropped consecutive games before pushing through with a 15-6 victory in the fifth set.
“In our last game of the tournament, we weren’t as focused as we had been the rest of the weekend,” Ensign said. “We allowed Manhattan to pull us into their scrappy game of volleyball, which we don’t play very well. Hopefully, we can be more focused against Temple.”
Additionally, the Tigers will have to overcome the challenge of having played only three games this season compared to the Owls’ eight. With three freshmen on the roster, including two starters, this inexperience could prove to be one of Princeton’s few weaknesses.
Among those freshmen is libero Hillary Ford, who replaced four-time All-Ivy selection Jenny McReynolds ’08. Though McReynolds left big shoes to fill, Ford has stepped up to the challenge and proved herself an unexpected and invaluable asset to the team.
“It’s hard to come onto a team with so may returning seniors, but Hillary is doing extremely well,” Robinson said. “She is extremely, extremely scrappy. She goes for everything and forces everyone to be scrappier. We are digging balls that we would never have dug last year.”
Ford’s energy has made up for the one potential weakness in Princeton’s starting lineup and will likely make it even more difficult for the Owls to win this match. Until the Tigers start Ivy League play, however, these out-of-conference matches are mainly a way for the Tigers to work out the remaining kinks in their game.
“Until we get [to] the Ivy League, we don’t really focus on the game or the team,” Robinson said. “We just focus on the how we play our game.”
Regardless of Princeton’s focus, the bottom line is that the Tigers are there for one thing and one thing only: a win. Given their deep and impressive roster, it would be surprising if Princeton didn’t achieve that goal tonight.
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