Competing in their final away games of the season, the Tigers (16-3 overall, 10-1 Ivy League) not only trumped the Crimson (9-15, 4-8) but also swept Dartmouth (8-15, 3-9) to complete a perfect weekend. These wins keep Princeton in the running for the Ivy League title: Yale (17-4, 11-1), after winning both of its weekend matches, remains only a half-game ahead of the Tigers.
Princeton traditionally struggles in away games against the Big Green, and despite the score of the match, this year was no exception. Dartmouth pulled away with an early lead in the first set, going ahead 8-1 before the Tigers started to fight back, taking the next six points. After that, Princeton never looked back, definitively winning the set, 25-19. The second set played out the same way: Though the Big Green came out firing and staked itself to an early 9-4 lead, the Tigers rallied for an impressive 25-18 victory.
“The Dartmouth match was a little strange in that we started off both the first and second games by giving them between an eight- and nine-point lead [by] playing rather apathetic,” senior outside hitter and captain Parker Henritze said. “Right around point nine or 10, we just started playing and were able to quickly catch up and use momentum to overcome them.”
It wasn’t until the third game that Princeton managed to take the early lead. Ironically, the Tigers found themselves in their tightest set of the night, as Dartmouth fought valiantly for a 22-22 tie after trailing Princeton most of the night. The Tigers, however, were unwilling to go down without a fight, and they broke down Dartmouth’s offense to clinch the win, 25-23.
“Dartmouth struggled with their offense at times,” Henritze said. “They had a couple girls who were putting balls away, but they didn’t seem as efficient in finding holes in our defense. We also put up a strong block, which was problematic for them.”
Junior outside hitter Sheena Donohue posted a masterful two-way effort with 14 kills, a team-leading 21 digs and a .310 attack percentage. As a whole, Princeton hit over .300 in the second and third sets, with three players reaching double digits in kills.
While the Tigers were able to cruise through Friday’s match against Dartmouth, that was certainly not the case in the following day’s contest against Harvard. Though Princeton hit the court with a vengeance Saturday, taking an early 11-2 lead, the Crimson slowly but surely made its way back into the game, winning 14 of the next 19 points to tie the match at 16. Harvard ended up defeating the Tigers 27-25 in the tight first game and carried that momentum into the second frame. The Crimson took an early lead and never looked back, easily dominating Princeton 25-15.
With their chances at an Ivy League title on the line, the Tigers knew they needed to step it up and rally back if they wanted to remain in contention with the Bulldogs for the title. Despite the bleak outlook, that is exactly what Princeton did. Buckling down and bringing stronger offensive pressure, the Tigers dominated the next three games, taking early leads in each and holding on to them.
Though Princeton did manage to pull away with the lead, the match was a little too close for comfort, especially considering how tight the race for the league title has been.
“The Harvard match was the most trying match I’ve ever experienced in my time on the team,” Donohue said. “We went into the game with the right mindset, but as Harvard gained momentum, we sat back and let them take control of the game. After losing the second game, we realized what a sticky situation we got ourselves into and stressed that in each individual point rested our hopes to win [the] league.”
Donohue again starred on both offense and defense, as she dominated her Ivy League foes with 21 kills and 22 digs. Also contributing to the furious comeback were senior setter Bailey Robinson, who recorded a match-high 57 assists, and senior middle-blocker Lindsey Ensign, with 19 kills, three blocks and a .421 attack percentage. Freshman libero Hillary Ford led all Tigers with 25 digs.
Though these wins were crucial for the team to remain in the Ivy League race with Yale, they also represent something greater for the seniors on the team.
“Getting these two wins on the road for the last away games for the season was really important to us,” Ensign said, “because for the six seniors it was the last time we would be playing in Dartmouth and Harvard’s gyms.”
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