Around the Ivies: Women's volleyball

Ivy League women’s volleyball action will kick off this upcoming Friday as Princeton travels to Penn and Yale to Brown. Based on early season performance and last year’s Ivy League table, here’s how the Ancient Eight stacks up.

Yale (4-5): The Bulldogs have stood on top of the league table for the past two seasons by fairly comfortable margins. 14-0 in 2012 and 13-1 in 2013, no team was able to consistently challenge the New Haven squad that managed to win 41 sets while losing only eight in last year’s campaign. Setter Kendall Polan, three-time Ivy League Player of the Year, graduated this past spring, but her former side retains plenty of talent with two returning first-team all-Ivy selections and two second-teamers.
Harvard (6-2): Blocker Caroline Walters was remarkable during this past week of competition, notching 3.11 kills per set and a .442 hitting percentage against local rivals Boston College and Northeastern University. For her efforts, she earned Sports Imports/ACVA National Player of the Week honors. In addition to Walters, an all-Ivy second-teamer last year, the Crimson returns three first-team all-Ivy selections. Corinne Bain, 2013 Rookie of the Year,paced the league by some margin last season with .54 aces per set.
Princeton (5-5): Sophomore Cara Mattaliano, a first-team all-Ivy selection last season, and junior Kendall Peterkin have provided consistently strong hitting for Princeton. The Tigers have struggled at times this season, but they have the talent to be competitive against a tough Ivy League schedule.
Pennsylvania (3-7): It’s been a very puzzling start for the Quakers. Competition has been tough, including No. 1 Stanford and Duke —the Blue Devils were just outside the AVCA coaches’ top 25 poll. Five straight losses should raise some eyebrows. 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Dani Shepherd graduated with the Class of 2014, leaving a major deficit for Penn to fill.
Dartmouth (8-2): The Big Green has been fairly impressive early. However, managing a 4-10 conference record last season, the New Hampshire side graduated its best talent in blocker Elisa Scudder. Hitter Paige Caridi returns from an All-Ivy Honorable Mention performance in 2013.
Brown (4-7): Outside hitter Thea Derrough earned first-team all-Ivy honors last season. Unfortunately for Bruno, she has since graduated and left a substantial gap to be filled. The Bears dropped a 3-1 loss to New Hampshire, a side the Big Green managed to top by a score of 3-2. Hitter Maddie Lord, an all-Ivy second-teamer last year, returns for her final season.
Cornell (3-6): Outside hitter Brenna Wong ranked fourth among Ivy Leaguers in 2014 with a mark of 3.24 kills per set. Her team struggled down the stretch last season, dropping five of six to end the year. Two of the four conference wins last season came against the next team on our list.
Columbia (4-5): It’s rare for Columbia to stand out athletically in the Ivy League. Women’s volleyball isn’t much of an exception. The team finished tied for last place in 2013 with a 4-10 record with the worst set-win differential in the conference. From its last campaign, it returns only one all-Ivy selection: second-teamer Bailey Springer. Success in 2014 has mostly come in the form of 3-0 wins over markedly inferior opponents.