Women's Volleyball: Ivy League run goes to 5 at Dillon Gym

The women’s volleyball team protected its perfect Ivy League record with a pair of crucial wins over Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Playing in front of an animated crowd on Friday night at Dillon Gymnasium, the Tigers (10-6 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) squeaked out a thrilling 3-2 victory over Harvard (5-13, 2-4). The following day Princeton made quick work of Dartmouth (12-5, 3-3), winning in three uncontested sets.

Although the Tigers went down 1-0 against Harvard to start, Princeton fans were unfazed. An early deficit has become something to expect from the Tigers, who had dropped at least the opening set in all of their previous league matches and still managed to come back. The match seemed to be following the familiar refrain when Princeton won the second set easily and took a significant 19-13 lead in the third game. Things would get interesting from there, however, as a string of good plays by Harvard closed Princeton’s lead to 21-20. An emphatic kill by sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Palmquist saved Harvard’s first game point and tied the score at 24-24, but the Tigers would go on to lose the game 26-24.

Despite the disappointment of the third game, the Tigers managed to halt Harvard’s surge of momentum early in the fourth game. Courtesy of kills by sophomore outside hitter Lydia Rudnick — the reigning two-time Ivy League Player of the Week — and junior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn, Princeton gained a 10-4 lead.

The Tigers’ margin narrowed to 22-19, and the tension of the match seemed to overcome even the players, as Harvard and Princeton traded service faults. A few points later, Rudnick dispatched her own nerves and took game 4 for the Tigers with another signature assertive kill.

Gritty plays and long points, due in large part to stellar digging by Harvard’s talented libero Christine Wu and Princeton’s own junior libero Hillary Ford, characterized the first four sets. The fifth and final set was no different, as Harvard and Princeton traded points and neither team ever led by more than two.

The referee reversed an out call on a Rudnick kill to tie the score 10-10, and a service ace by Ford and a pair of kills by freshman outside hitter Sydney Brombal and Palmquist put Princeton ahead 14-11. As had happened so many times earlier in the match, Harvard again came back to tie the score 14-14, but this time the Crimson could not capitalize. Showing composure beyond her years, Brombal dismissed Harvard with a kill to put the marathon match in the history books. Princeton walked away with a 24-26, 25-16, 24-26, 25-21, 16-14 win.

Rudnick finished with a career-high 32 kills, while Palmquist added 14 and Quinn recorded 12. Ford had a match-high 25 digs, and junior setter Michaela Venuti recorded 60 assists and 14 digs.

“The setting was really great tonight,” Rudnick said of Venuti. “Michaela did an amazing job. I was finding holes in the Harvard defense.”

As for Princeton’s defense, head coach Jolie Ward had only words of praise. “Hillary was fantastic tonight. If not for her passing, this might have been a different result.”

While the result was the same for Princeton against Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon, the match itself could not have been more different. After taking a commanding 23-10 lead in the first game, the Tigers hiccuped slightly during a strong serving sequence by Dartmouth outside hitter Madeline Baird but regained their stride with a kill by Palmquist to take the first game 25-17. The Tigers were only behind once in all three sets, when they trailed 6-5 early in the second game. Princeton’s balanced attack would prove too much for the Big Green as the Tigers grabbed the second set 25-15 and the match with a 25-18 win in the third set.

Rudnick registered 12 kills, and Quinn, Palmquist and Brombal had 10 kills each. Quinn ended with a 0.450 hitting percentage, and Rudnick hit 0.379. Senior middle blocker and co-captain Liz McStravick had three blocks, while Venuti had 36 assists and 11 digs and Ford had a team-high 18 digs.