Last weekend, Princeton fell to Columbia, which sits right below Yale in the Ancient Eight standings, in a marathon match, but then swept Cornell. The Tigers will look to carry this momentum into the weekend.
“Yale and Brown are worthy opponents, and they will be very hungry for a win at home,” head coach Jolie Ward said. “We must maintain our composure and work on making changes as necessary during the match. The better we are at adapting to the game, the more successful we will be when we play either of these teams.”
Both veterans and newcomers have been leading the team this season and will likely figure importantly this weekend. Sophomore outside hitter Lydia Rudnick, who is a three-time Ivy League Player of the Week, has been consistently impressive. She has averaged 4.4 kills and 4.8 points per set this season, and she leads the Ivy League with 4.8 kills and 5.2 points per set in league matches.
Junior setter Michaela Venuti and junior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn have also contributed heavily to the team’s success. Venuti leads the league with 11.3 assists per set, while Quinn ranks fifth with 1.1 blocks per set.
Freshman outside hitters Chelsea Parker and Sydney Brombal, along with sophomore middle blocker Jennifer Palmquist, have also played key roles in the Tigers’ league victories.
With seven more games until the end of their season, the Tigers are focusing on maintaining their conditioning while improving upon their weaknesses. They will be sure not to overlook either of this weekend’s opponents, as both took at least one game off the Tigers earlier this season.
“Going into this weekend, we need to continue to vary our offense and play great defense,” Quinn said of the the Tigers’ strategy. “Our blocking has improved a lot recently, and that will definitely help us against Yale and Brown.”
“Our goal for this season is to win the Ivy League, and in order to do that we must focus on one game at a time, as every team in our league is a formidable opponent,” Quinn said.
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