Women's Volleyball: Pair of Ancient Eight road games ends in split for Princeton

The women’s volleyball team learned the hard way this weekend that you can only win the close matches so many times. After beating Penn in five sets in its league opener and sneaking past Harvard in a thrilling 3-2 comeback win, Princeton’s fortunes reversed this weekend when the Tigers (11-7 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) suffered a heartbreaking 25-15, 20-25, 23-25, 25-21, 17-15 loss to Columbia (12-6, 4-4) on Friday afternoon. Princeton handled its nerves better on Saturday, however, and won three hard-fought sets in a 25-23, 29-27, 25-21 sweep of Cornell (4-14, 2-6). The victory over Cornell earns the Tigers at least a share of first place in the Ivy League standings after the first half of the season.

The Tigers struggled with their hitting percentage early on against the Lions and dropped the first set 25-15. In the second and third sets, however, Princeton’s hitting percentage improved to 0.244 and 0.333, and the team rallied to gain a 2-1 lead. Despite another outstanding performance from sophomore outside hitter and three-time Ivy League Player of the Week Lydia Rudnick — who registered a career best in both kills and digs with 34 and 25, respectively — Columbia rallied with the help of a supportive home crowd to take the next two sets.

Princeton found itself playing catchup for most of the fourth set. The Tigers dug themselves into a 17-11 hole with several attack errors but were able to narrow the margin to 21-19. Princeton was again hampered by a low hitting percentage, and the Lions widened their lead with a service ace and a few successful kills to ultimately take the fourth set.

Though the Tigers led in the fifth set by as much as 12-9, the Lions would simply not let up. At 12-11, Columbia tied the score with a service ace, and while the Tigers took a 14-12 lead and even had a match point at 15-14, the Lions answered with a series of kills to take the set by a 17-15 margin and secure the victory in the match.

Learning from their mistakes, the Tigers played the big points well in a hotly contested sweep of Cornell on Saturday. Princeton was led by junior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn, who tallied 15 kills and six blocks, and sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Palmquist, who had 11 kills and six blocks of her own.

“The team was frustrated last night that we didn’t learn from the Harvard match about starting better,” head coach Jolie Ward said. “The team worked much harder in the first set tonight and got a tough win.”

Princeton opened with a 10-6 lead thanks to kills by Palmquist, Quinn, senior middle blocker Liz McStravick and freshman outside hitter Sydney Brombal. The Tigers took the first game on a Cornell error and a service ace by junior setter Michaela Venuti. Princeton’s 25-23 first-set win against Cornell was one of only three other 1-0 leads the Tigers have held all season in the Ivy League.

Despite going down 12-7 in the second set, the Tigers recovered to tie the score at 13-13 thanks to Cornell errors; kills by McStravick, Rudnick and Brombal; and a service ace by Venuti. Princeton and Cornell traded points for the remainder of the set, with neither team gaining more than a two-point lead. Princeton earned its first pair of set points on Cornell errors, but the team ultimately could not convert them. A kill by McStravick gave the Tigers their third opportunity to win the set, but a Cornell kill tied the score yet again. After a kill by Palmquist put the Tigers within a point of winning the second set for the fourth time, a Cornell error handed the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The third set was not without drama, as the Tigers went down again early. Finding itself in an 11-6 deficit, Princeton fought back with a 10-3 scoring run to take a 21-19 lead. Three kills by McStravick and a Cornell error then gave Princeton the sweep. McStravick ended the night with nine kills, six blocks and an impressive 0.364 attack percentage, while Venuti recorded 38 assists and 13 digs. Brombal also had a good showing, with five kills and 21 digs. Princeton liberos junior Hillary Ford and senior C.C. Lobben each added 17 digs of their own.

Despite dropping their first Ivy League match of the season this weekend, Ward and the Tigers are not dwelling on the past.

“Every team in this league is tough,” Ward said. “Every win is going to be a challenge. Going 2-0 this weekend would have been great, but any win on the road is a good one. I am hopeful we can carry this moment into another tough road trip next weekend.”