Women's Volleyball: Tigers drop close match to Seton Hall

The Pirates (8-6) took a 19-14 lead in the first game before Princeton (7-5) went on a 7-2 run to even the score at 21-21. All seven of the Tigers’ points came on assists from freshman setter Ginny Willis, who ended her collegiate home debut with 39 assists. After kills by two 2010 first-team all-Ivy players, senior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn and junior outside hitter Lydia Rudnick, gave the hosts a game point at 25-24, the Pirates responded with a run of their own. Seton Hall opposite hitter Meghan Matusiak torched the Tigers with two kills and a service ace to take the game 27-25. Matusiak finished with 16 kills and five aces to lead all players with 22.5 points.

Princeton found itself down in the second set 16-9 and missing one of its top players for a short stretch. Quinn landed awkwardly during one point early in the game and left the match, but she returned later in the set and notched three kills. Led by Quinn’s return, the home team rallied to take a 20-19 lead. Moments later, Princeton had a game point, but the Pirates once again tallied three straight points to win the game 26-24.

It looked as if the third game would go by quickly as Seton Hall took an 18-9 lead. However, the Tigers did not go down without a final push. Princeton slowly closed the gap, aided by a 6-0 run on Willis’ serve. The hosts eventually evened the score at 23-23, but a service error and a Seton Hall kill gave the Pirates the victory in a sweep.

The Pirates had 12 aces, compared to only one for the Tigers. In a match that was decided by two points in each game, those aces were ultimately one of the deciding factors.

“We have to start with intensity from the beginning of the game,” sophomore outside hitter Sydney Brombal said. “We get down in the games, but we still come back and only lose by two. If we don’t dig ourselves a hole and play all the way through, I think we could have won not only this match, but also a couple of the other matches we lost.”

Tuesday evening’s match marked another step in the return of Rudnick, who missed much of the nonconference season with an injury before returning last weekend. Her 14 kills and eight digs provided a major boost to the Tiger’s offense. Freshman outside hitter Sarah Hanna finished second on the team with 11 kills, junior right side hitter Jennifer Palmquist recorded 10 kills and three blocks and Quinn added nine kills and five blocks.

Despite losing its home opener, Princeton looks ahead to the imminent Ivy League season. The team will be tested from the start, as they host defending Ivy League champion Penn on Friday at 7 p.m.

“Although we’re not happy about losing our first home game, it was good to get the jitters out,” Brombal said. “Now we can go to practice this week focusing on Penn.”