Women's Volleyball: Strong start breeds league title hopes

The women’s volleyball team has gotten off to a strong start to open the 2011 season. Princeton (5-3) earned second place in the opening weekend Hofstra Invitational by going 3-1 and has since notched tough road wins over Rutgers and St. Johns.

“The way we started off is really promising,” sophomore outside hitter Sydney Brombal said. “We have a lot to work on, but it’s been a great start to the season.”

The new additions to the team have provided a spark that the Tigers hope to ride to an Ivy League title. Joining Princeton this season are five freshmen as well as a new coach in Sabrina King ’01. Among the freshmen is middle blocker Nicole Kincade, who was named North Jersey Player of the Year as a high school senior. Also new to the lineup is outside hitter Sarah Hanna, who has already recorded 67 kills, the second most on the team.

“We tried a lot of new lineups, with a lot of freshmen and a lot of returners,” Brombal said. “Numerous freshmen have already seen playing time, filling in positions from seniors that have left, and also injured players like [junior outside hitter] Lydia [Rudnick] and [junior right side hitter] Jenn [Palmquist], and they’ve done really well.”

As an undergraduate at Princeton, King led the Tigers as part of three Ivy League championship teams, and she was honored as the Ivy League Player of the Year in 1999. Upon graduating, she served as assistant coach to Glenn Nelson and earned two more Ivy League titles, one of which marked the only perfect 14-0 Ivy League season to date.

“We have Sabrina now, and it is setting a new tone,” Brombal said. “The seniors have already played under her coaching. Sabrina has brought back the old program, which is what drew me to Princeton in the first place.”

Princeton returns a talented squad, including two first team All-Ivy selections in 2010. Rudnick, who has missed the last four matches but is expected to return for Ivy League play, was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection and was Player of the Week three times. She led the league in kills by a wide margin, averaging 4.31 kills per set, a mark that put her in the top 20 in the country. Senior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn joined Rudnick as a first team All-Ivy selection, ranking in the top eight in the league in kills and blocks and leading the Tigers with 81 blocks. A co-captain this season, Quinn has gotten off to a strong start, leading Princeton with 3.31 kills per set and 86 kills in all. She also leads the team with 29 blocks and 112 points.

The Tigers play in the Lehigh-Lafayette Invitational this weekend before finishing their nonconference schedule against Seton Hall on Tuesday. Next weekend, Princeton begins their campaign for the 2011 Ivy League title against defending co-champion Penn. Penn and Yale, the other defending co-champion, figure to be the major obstacles the Tigers must overcome to win the championship. Nevertheless, the Tigers are confident in their quest for the title.

“I am confident that we can take Ivies,” Brombal said. “We beat Penn last year, and we beat Yale. We have a lot of new talent this year, and we have gotten off to a good start. Our practices have been really productive with Sabrina, so our chances are really great.”