Women's Volleyball: Road trip begins with journey to New Haven

When contemplating its upcoming match against Yale, the women’s volleyball team is torn between two distinct and overpowering emotions concerning its Ivy League foe: hatred and fear.

Reeling after their first Ivy League game and loss against Penn last weekend, the Tigers (2-10 overall, 0-1 Ivy League) head to New Haven, Conn., on Friday to face Yale (11-1, 1-0) in the first of a four-game road trip. But this weekend is about more than just proving that a team with four new starters and a new head coach is still a championship contender, and it’s about more than getting the first Ivy League win of the season: It’s about vengeance.

“All of us who played last year are out for revenge,” sophomore libero Hillary Ford said. “We know that Yale is going to be a really tough game, but we really want to prove that we are contenders in this league, especially after [the loss] to Penn last weekend. We are out to prove that we are better than that and we can play better than that.”

What the squad seeks to avenge is perhaps the most memorable and heart-wrenching moment of last year: when Princeton lost to the Bulldogs at the end of the season, a loss that cost the Tigers the Ivy League title.

And if the Tigers couldn’t overcome Yale’s overpowering offense last year when Princeton had depth and experience at almost every position, it’s hard to imagine how this year’s rebuilding team will fare against the defending Ivy champs.

“I think that we just have to not go into the game thinking about the strengths they have,” senior outside hitter and co-captain Sheena Donohue said. “They won Ivy League, but we just have to think of them as any other team we are trying to beat.”

Not to mention that the Bulldogs are arguably the best team in the league.

The most fearsome player on Yale’s team is without a doubt Cat Dailey, last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year.

The outside hitter transferred from UC Berkeley last year and this season has led her team with 114 kills, averaging 4.07 per set. It hardly seems coincidental that Dailey’s arrival coincided with the Bulldogs’ first championship in 30 years.

“They are really strong on the outside,” Donohue said. “They have a girl who transferred from [UC Berkeley] who is really good. Their outside hitters are really strong hitters and blockers. It is going to be important to put up a strong block and adjust our defense to minimize the number of shots they can hit.”

Not only will Yale take the court Friday with a squad filled with veteran starters — having lost only its setter to graduation — but also the Bulldogs are unbeaten at home, having recorded seven wins on their turf.

In its Ivy League opener last weekend, Yale crushed Brown in a three-game sweep that not only displayed its well-known offensive power — the Bulldogs hit .379 during the match — but also showcased its defensive ability, as the team kept Brown’s offense in check.While the prospect of playing the best team in the league may be daunting, it should not be forgotten that Princeton has several weapons of its own. Included on this list is Donohue, who leads the team in kills, averaging 3.22 per set, as well as digs, with 4.3 per set.

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Also bolstering the attack is sophomore middle-blocker Cathryn Quinn, who leads the team with a .257 attack percentage and who has put up 20 blocks this season.

Yet these strengths can’t make up for the fact that the Tigers are still a young, rebuilding team with far too many holes and inconsistencies on the court.

“There were a lot of things we need to work on from [the Penn] game,” Ford said. “[We need to have] more consistent serving, we need to mix up options in front row, [and we need to] play better defense.”