Women's Volleyball: Rudnick, Quinn lead resurgence in Ancient Eight

The women’s volleyball team is dominating its Ancient Eight competition this fall. After a rocky string of losses in the last four weeks of September when Princeton (10-6 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) lost six of eight matches, the Tigers have fallen back in stride. It appears Princeton must have been saving energy for the Ivy League season, since the team has not lost an in-conference match yet.

Princeton now takes to the road for its next four league matches. The Tigers open the stretch tonight in New York City against Columbia (11-5, 3-3) and face off against Cornell (4-12, 2-4) tomorrow in Ithaca, N.Y. The Tigers currently hold first place in the Ivy League, and this string of away games will test the team’s consistency without home-court advantage.

“Columbia and Cornell have won some close matches this year,” junior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn said. “We will approach this match like any other match and try to stay calm and play our game even when the games get close. These will be important games because it is our first weekend on the road since our match at Penn.”

Columbia and Cornell are the only two Ivy League teams that Princeton has not competed against already this season. Last year, the Tigers faced both of these teams twice and won each time. The Tigers have not lost to either team for the past three years.

“Both Columbia and Cornell will be good games,” sophomore outside hitter Lydia Rudnick said. “Whoever comes out to play and wants it the most will win the match. We just need to play the way we have been playing thus far and stay focused, and I think that we will be able to do well against them.”

Rudnick has won Ivy League Player of the Week for the past three weeks. Last weekend, Rudnick averaged 5.5 kills per game against Harvard and Dartmouth, which played a major role in the Tigers’ two-match sweep at Dillon Gymnasium.

“As a team we are playing really well together,” Rudnick said. “Our passing has gotten better, and our setting has been really great, which has helped me when it comes to hitting. We have been playing as a team, and every individual on our team has stepped it up.”

In the Tigers’ 3-0 win last Saturday against Dartmouth, Quinn recorded 10 kills and came away with a .450 hitting percentage.

“We have been taking the Ivy League one game at a time,” Quinn said. “Every team is very good in the league this year, and most of our games have been battles. We have been able to finish close games, allowing us to stay unbeaten. The last five points of each game has been very important for us this season.”