Women's Volleyball: Pair of wins gives reason for Ivy hopes

The women’s volleyball team has just three returning starters — two of whom are sophomores — and a new head coach, so some people might have written off this season as a rebuilding year. This weekend proved those people wrong.

After a dismal showing at the beginning of the year — the Tigers went just 2-for-9 in the preseason — Princeton (6-12 overall, 4-3 Ivy League) made a 180-degree turn and is currently riding a three-game winning streak.

Following a four-game road trip, the Tigers returned home for the weekend to face Ivy foes Columbia (11-10, 2-6) and Cornell (6-13, 3-5). Though Princeton kept each match from going to five — the Tigers beat both the Lions and the Big Red by a 3-1 margin — neither was an easy victory.

Princeton started the weekend against Columbia, whose unassertive and timid style of play made the players seem more like kittens than lions.

“[Our players] knew that they had to prove something to the fans, to themselves and to the Ivy conference in general,” head coach Jolie Ward said. “So coming into this match, they knew that they wanted to try and capitalize and dominate, and I think that Columbia sensed that and were playing very timid in Game 1. That gave us another advantage: Not only were we playing well in game one, but Columbia was tentative and sort of fearful in their game.”

While the Lions seemed afraid to hit the ball, Princeton came out roaring. The Tigers refused to let the ball die in any given play and set up several monstrous spikes. Columbia’s coach called a timeout to squash the momentum Princeton was building after scoring six unanswered points for a 14-5 lead. Whatever pep talk Columbia head coach Jon Wilson gave wasn’t enough to fire up his players, who only managed to score seven points throughout the rest of the game for the loss.

“We came out with so much energy and intensity,” sophomore setter Michaela Venuti said. “We hadn’t played in our own gym in a while, so we were really excited to just play at home. We were ready for a win.”

After being demoralized at the start of the match, the Lions came back surprisingly strong in the second. Princeton got on the board first, but Columbia’s outside hitters kept their team in the game. Despite Columbia’s increased confidence, the Tigers’ offense again ran away with the game.

Though the Tigers finished the second set seven points ahead of their Ivy League rivals, it was clear that the Lions were improving as the match wore on, and the momentum was slowly turning in their favor.

Compared to the offensive fervor demonstrated in the first set, Princeton looked slow and sloppy in the third game. The Tigers struggled to return serves, transition on kills and set up good plays.

Columbia, on the other hand, stepped up its game with vigilant blocking and an ability to win drawn-out points. This combination led to Princeton’s first loss of the night.

“We sort of sat on our heels a little more, because in game one we did so well, and we were able to capitalize so easily,” Ward said. “[Then Columbia] started to score on things that maybe we just weren’t processing fast enough, so we could get those balls up and make them into plays. As they improved, we started to sit, and that is really what brought us to game three, where we were ended up being behind and continuously being behind and trying to fight back.”

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Given the Tigers’ recent history of floundering late in the match, a fifth set was the last thing the Dillon Gymnasium crowd wanted. Unfortunately for the Princeton faithful, Columbia took an early lead in the fourth.

The Lions continued to add to their lead throughout the set, and Ward called a timeout at 17-13 to regroup her team. Whatever she said worked, because after the timeout, Princeton climbed out of its deficit and took the final two points for a tight 28-26 decision.

As exciting as the Tigers’ first Ivy League home win was, the squad couldn’t start celebrating yet: It still had to face Cornell on Saturday. Princeton again hit the court aggressively in the first set. The Tigers were red-hot offensively and took advantage of a fumbling Big Red attack squad to win the set by 11 points.

“Strategically we were really good on service, and we were getting kills,” senior right-side hitter Taylor Carroll said. “[We had] tough serves, which brought the other team off the net so they weren’t really able to run their offense, which helped us out a lot.”

The second set did not end as well for the Orange and Black. Cornell’s defense played more consistently and confidently, refusing to let any ball die. Princeton fired off well-planned attacks, and the set was tied a total of 16 times, but ultimately Columbia’s unshakable defense earned the Big Red a win.

Eager to avoid a fifth set, the Tigers came back strong in the third. Princeton’s attack was ruthless, earning a .400 attack percentage while holding Cornell to just .081 largely thanks to the impressive digs of sophomore libero Hillary Ford. The Tigers came back from the shaky second for a 14-point margin of victory in the third.

The Big Red, however, refused to go down easily in the fourth set. Cornell’s incredible recoveries kept it in the game, though a few Princeton errors also gave the Big Red some breathing room. Tied at 14, the Tigers finally took control of the set and gained a small lead that they never relinquished.

Princeton ended the match having led Cornell in almost every category: The Tigers had 71 kills to the Big Red’s 42, a .321 hit percentage to Cornell’s .140 and eight team blocks to six of their Ivy foes’. Crucial throughout the weekend were outside hitters freshman Lydia Rudnick and senior Sheena Donohue, who combined for 38 kills and 32 digs against the Big Red.

Right now Princeton is neck-and-neck with Harvard (8-11, 4-4) for third, which means the Tigers are still in the race for an Ivy League title.

“[These] wins mean a lot,” Carroll said. “The Ivy League is really close this year. There are four or five teams that all have the same record as we do, so every win we can get right now is going to help us because someone else is going to get knocked off in another game. Every win is important.”

But with defending champs Yale and the unbeaten Penn squad leading the pack, Princeton has a long way to go before it reaches the top.