Women's Volleyball: Bulldogs, Bears pay visit to Dillon

On a high from last week’s victory over Penn, the women’s volleyball team will look to continue its success this weekend against Brown and Yale. After a few early hiccups to the season, the Tigers (6-6 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) made a huge leap last week, coming from two sets down to beat the defending Ivy League champions.

Yale is clearly the tougher of the two teams, having beaten Brown twice in the last week. The Bears proved to be a scrappy squad. The first game was a 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 victory, but the Bears took the second game to a decisive fifth set before losing 25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 25-27, 15-8.

The Tigers’ game against Brown will be a good gauge of the team’s focus level coming into the weekend. In order to keep the offense flowing, Princeton will depend on players like junior setter Michaela Venuti to make it easy for the offensive hitters.

“Few of our recent wins over Brown have been in three games, so our match with Brown will be a chance to dominate and finish in three,” senior middle blocker Elizabeth McStravick said. “To do so, we will have to work hard and concentrate for every one of the 75 points. They have always been scrappy, so they will still definitely be a force to reckon with.”

The Tigers’ win against Penn demonstrated how dangerous they are at their best. Sophomore offensive hitter Lydia Rudnick was a cog for Princeton, posting her fifth double-double on the season to drive the team’s victory. She didn’t carry the team alone, though, as it displayed its highest level of commitment and cohesiveness so far this season.

Junior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn leveraged her experience on the team to help pull them out of the hole they found themselves in early on in the match. On the defensive side, starting libero Hillary Ford had a game-high 25 digs to keep the team alive, while sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Palmquist provided a spark in the third.

“Key players made things happen and minimized mistakes, especially at crucial points of the match,” head coach Jolie Ward said. “Rudnick was the driving force for the team, while Quinn contributed significantly at the front line as well. Venuti did a nice job of distributing the ball and kept McStravick involved which helped at numerous times during the later part of the match.”

The tougher challenge this weekend for the Tigers, though, will come from the Bulldogs. Princeton has not even taken a set from Yale since the 2007 season. On the other hand, the Tigers are playing some of their best volleyball in years, so this battle will be one to watch.

Yale’s biggest strength coming into the match is the quick emergence of its freshmen. Of the five Rookie of the Week awards given by the Ivy League so far this season, three of them have gone to Yale freshmen. Most recently, setter Kendall Polan was awarded that honor after nearly recording two triple-doubles in the same week. She currently leads the Ivy League in assists overall as well.

The other strength the Tigers must be wary of is Yale’s strong backline, particularly their libero Kelly Ozurovich, the all-time leader in digs at Yale. The Tigers should be well prepared for that, though, having dealt with Penn and their star libero Madison Wojciechowski.

“We definitely have a saying against teams with a good defender: ‘Hit away from the libero,’ ” McStravick said. “By watching film, our team can see where she plays defense and strategically hit around her. We will also need to serve away from her, which has the added bonus of targeting our serves to hitters who can become more fatigued and frustrated with their hitting as well as their passing.”

The most positive sign from the Tigers’ game against Penn was their resilience — their ability to keep going when down under pressure — and that quality will be key to fighting Yale’s major strengths.

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“We just need to keep our focus up throughout the match,” senior defensive specialist Carola Hernandez said. “Sometimes, when we have a bad play, I can see the whole team just kind of lets down. That’s when we get into ruts. If we can find a way to forget about the last point and focus on the point we’re on, I think we’ll play much more consistently.”