Women's Volleyball: Eli rematch has Ivy title implications

The pressure will peak as the Tigers (16-3 overall, 10-1 Ivy League) face Ivy League rivals Brown (12-12, 4-8) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Yale (17-4, 11-1) on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Dillon Gym. All three enter the weekend having swept their competition last weekend, and the close race for the championship could play out in several different scenarios.

The Bulldogs, whose lone league loss came at Penn’s hands, will likely be Princeton’s biggest stumbling block. The last time the Tigers played Yale, the Bulldogs’ overpowering defense refused to let Princeton get into a good rhythm, and the Elis offense relentlessly attacked at the net. The 3-0 sweep was the Tigers’ only Ivy loss of the season.

“They were very fired up for redemption because we were the reigning Ivy League champs,” freshman middle blocker Cathryn Quinn said. “They came out with a lot of firepower, and they overpowered us. They played very well, but then the next night they lost to Penn, so they are definitely not infallible.”

While Princeton will have home-court advantage, Yale’s numbers are frighteningly good: Not only have the Bulldogs won 11 of their last 12 Ivy matches, but they also won 3-0 in nine of those wins. These numbers, however, do not concern the Tigers.

“We’ve swept everyone except Dartmouth and Harvard, so in terms of records, we are probably pretty evenly matched,” Quinn said. “I don’t think you can quantify them based on records. You can beat a team 3-0, and it can still be a very good match. I think both of us have proven we are at the top of the league.”

While Princeton might not be scared of Yale’s win percentage, one obstacle for the Tigers on Saturday will be the Bulldogs’ outside hitters. The player Princeton will have to watch for on the outside is Cat Dailey, who hit .526 against Cornell last weekend, pounding out 20 kills without committing an error.

“Their two outside hitters are very good and very consistently dominant,” Quinn said. “They are our biggest threat offensively. Putting up a strong block against them while also not forgetting about the rest of the players is our goal.”

But before Princeton can focus on revenge against the Bulldogs, it must first get past Friday’s match against the Bears. While the Tigers dominated Brown 25-19, 25-14, 25-16 in the teams’ last meeting, overconfidence would be an embarrassing reason for losing the Ivy title.

“This weekend is unique because there has been more of a universal focus on Yale,” Quinn said. “But the Yale game won’t mean anything if we don’t beat Brown. We are all really focused on playing well on Friday night in order to gain some momentum for Saturday, really playing consistently and fine-tuning for the Yale game.”

Leading the Tigers against their Ivy League rivals will be junior outside hitter Sheena Donohue, who had two double-double performances last weekend and was named the Ivy League volleyball Player of the Week. While Donohue led the offense in both kills per set (4.38) and digs (5.28), freshman libero Hillary Ford led the defense with 25 digs against Harvard and will be called on to limit the potent Yale offense Saturday.

Though it is crucial that Princeton sweep this weekend, the Tigers’ fate also depends on how well Yale plays against Penn on Friday. The Tigers will only clinch the championship this weekend if they sweep and the Quakers beat the Bulldogs. If Penn fails to beat Yale, however, Princeton will need to beat the Quakers next Wednesday to secure the league title.

This weekend is undoubtedly important to the team’s seniors, but its importance is not lost on the underclassmen.

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“Our season really comes down to this weekend,” Quinn said. “We have six seniors on the team, so it is their last year to win the Ivy League, and we want to do it for them. We also want to do it because we just want to win.”