Women's Volleyball: Ivy streak snapped in New Haven

Yale (11-4 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) ended the Tigers’ 18-match Ivy win streak and moved to first-place in the league with a decisive 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23) victory in New Haven.

The Bulldogs did not enjoy their first-place position in the standings for long, however. Less than 24 hours after snapping Princeton’s win streak, Yale was upset by fifth-place Penn, 3-2. Meanwhile, in Providence, R.I., Princeton (10-3, 4-1) proved why it is one of the toughest teams in the league. Instead of dwelling on their loss to Yale, the Tigers came out and dominated Brown (9-9, 2-4), 3-0, to hold on to a share of first place in the league.

Princeton will use the lessons from its match against Yale to work on the weaknesses that were exposed in the loss. The Tigers committed 20 errors and had a combined attack percentage of .163 for the match, a testament to Yale’s tough defense. Bulldogs’ outside hitter Alexis Crusey led the defense with four solo blocks, doubling the total number of blocks Princeton had in the contest. Apart from its 12 blocks as a team, three Yale players, including outside hitter and Cal transfer Cat Dailey, also had 10 or more digs.

“Yale definitely put up a strong block against us and basically got two people up every time on the outsides,” senior outside hitter and captain Parker Henritze said. “This enabled them to play disciplined and smart defense.”

Despite a sluggish start in the first set, the Tigers battled in the next two sets, losing both by a combined six points. Senior middle blocker Lindsey Ensign led Princeton with 12 kills and a .455 hitting percentage, while senior setter Bailey Robinson notched 35 assists.

The Tigers struggled to find an offensive rhythm, however, as Ensign was the only Tiger with more than five attacks to hit over .200. Princeton’s hitting percentage was less than .200 for each set, while Yale eclipsed the .200 mark in every set and hit .264 for the match. Henritze and freshman libero Hillary Ford led Princeton on defense, racking up 12 and 15 digs, respectively.

“We made too many errors, to put it simply,” Henritze said. “They played great as a team, but we didn’t help ourselves at all with hitting, passing [and] serving errors throughout the match that broke up any momentum we started to gain.”

Princeton rebounded quickly from its loss to Yale, defeating Brown handily Saturday night in Providence, 25-19, 25-14, 25-16. Led by junior outside hitter Sheena Donohue, the Tigers had 47 kills and only 10 errors on the way to hitting .420 for the match. Donohue racked up 16 kills in 25 total attacks, pacing the offense with a hitting percentage of .560 and coming within one dig of a double-double.

“Beating Brown was extremely important, coming off the loss to Yale, and I think [it] is something we would have really struggled with two years ago,” Robinson said. “But most of us have played in this league long enough to know that one loss does not mean the end of a season because in the Ivy League, anything can happen.”

With the pressure of the in-league win streak off their shoulders, the Tigers can now focus on the upcoming series against Harvard and Dartmouth. The weekend will also allow Princeton to enjoy the support and confidence that comes with playing at home.

“Our team has been looking forward to this weekend since the beginning of the season,” Ensign said of the Tigers’ first homestand, adding that “it will definitely help us when it comes to competing against Harvard and Dartmouth.”

With the standings knotted and the halfway mark in league play approaching, the Tigers appreciate the advantage of closing out most of the season at home.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“I think coming home this weekend will be a great change of pace,” Robinson said. “We feel very comfortable playing in Dillon, and we love playing for our fans.”