Women's Volleyball: Hosts upend defending champions in thriller

Fans packed the bleachers at Dillon Gymnasium on Friday night to watch as the women’s volleyball team defeated its Ivy League rival and defending champion, the University of Pennsylvania (4-7, 0-1), in the opening conference match of the season. Last year when the Tigers (8-5 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) took on the Quakers, each team won one very close match, so anticipation was high leading up to the weekend’s contest.

“Playing Penn is always a really fun match, but beating Penn is amazing,” senior middle blocker and co-captain Cathryn Quinn said. “They are one of our biggest rivals and a top team in the Ivy League, so defeating them in the first match of the season was the best outcome possible. Our crowd was awesome and it was really great to beat them in our home gym.”

The teams were neck-and-neck throughout the match, as both sides put up impressive offensive and defensive fronts. Princeton and Penn traded the first four sets (24-26, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21), sending the match into a fifth-set tiebreaker. There, the Tigers pulled away late for a defining 15-9 victory. Princeton fought back from being down 1-0 and again from being down 2-1 to take the final two sets and the win.

Quinn said she was pleased with her team’s effort and execution in the match. “Passing and defense are what won us the game and allowed our setter to have multiple options every time,” she said. “In addition, we stayed steady throughout the match. Even if we were down by a few points, we stayed calm.”

In the final, defining set, both teams traded points until the score was 4-4. Then, a big kill and block by the Tigers set them in motion to take the match. Quinn and junior right side hitter Jennifer Palmquist each had two kills and combined on two blocks to give Princeton a five-point advantage at 14-9. On match point, Quinn and freshman outside hitter Sarah Hanna teamed up and blocked the Quakers, clinching the win.

There were not one or two standout players for the Tigers; rather, several teammates stepped up to help lead the team. Four veteran upperclassmen led the way: Junior outside Lydia Rudnick was a force on both offense (18 kills, the team best) and defense (10 digs). Quinn also worked hard on both sides of the game tallying 15 kills and eight blocks. A .476 hitting percentage, 12 kills and seven blocks by Palmquist contributed to one of her career-best matches. Senior libero Hillary Ford added a team-best 20 digs.

The team’s freshmen, playing in their first Ivy League showdown, also helped pave the path toward victory. Setter Ginny Willis recorded 48 assists and 10 digs, while Hanna (six kills, two blocks) and middle blocker Nicole Kincade (four kills, three blocks) made important plays at pivotal moments late in the match.

“It was definitely a team effort, everyone who played contributed immensely to us winning,” Rudnick said.

“Everyone on and off of the court contributed to our win,” Quinn said. “Both [sophomore outside hitters] Sydney Brombal and Chelsea Parker stepped up with great passing, which helped to steady our serve-receive and let us run a diversified offense.”

The Quakers grabbed the first four points of the match and established themselves as a threatening opponent for the Tigers. Princeton benefited from some sloppy play by Penn with several service and attacking errors leading to points for the hosts. The Orange and Black struggled a few times early on with communicating and returning short tips sent over by the Quakers. Still, the score remained close throughout the first game and was tied at 24 before Penn earned the final two points to get an early lead.

As was the trend for the remainder of the match, the team that scored the first point of the game also won that set. In the second set, it was the Tigers’ turn to lead, benefiting from a kill and service ace. A five-point streak mid-set helped Princeton open up a gap at 15-9, but the Quakers closed the lead at 17 to tie it up. Penn called a timeout, unsuccessfully trying to stop the Tigers’ momentum as Princeton rallied for eight of the next 10 points.

The third set started off in favor of the Quakers, who collected six points before the Tigers got on the scoreboard. Five of those points came off of errors by Princeton. The Orange and Black slowly climbed back into the game a few points at a time, and the score reached 22-20. A kill by Penn and two attacking errors by the Tigers handed the third set to the Quakers, giving them a 2-1 advantage going into the fourth.

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Knowing that it needed to win the fourth set for a chance at victory, Princeton came out strong opening up a 10-4 initial lead. However, the Quakers fought back and claimed the lead at 18-17. With the set tied at 20, Rudnick stepped up and sent four kills across the net to put the team at game point. A final kill by Palmquist helped the Tigers tie the match at 2-2 and send them into a fifth and final set.

“I think what really helped us succeed was our serve-receive passing. It is the part of the game that we have struggled with the most, and against Penn we achieved our goal and it made it much easier for us to run our offense,” Rudnick said.

The Tigers will be back on their home court next weekend as they host two more Ivy League opponents, Harvard on Friday at 7 p.m. and Dartmouth on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“The momentum from beating Penn will definitely carry us through this next weekend, and it tells us what we need to work on in practice this week,” Quinn said.