Women's Volleyball: Bulldogs drop Tigers in Ivy League showdown

The Tigers (16-8 overall, 9-3 Ivy League) experienced two split weekends, with 3-1 wins against Harvard and Brown and 1-3 losses against Dartmouth and Yale. Although Princeton had defeated each of the teams previously this season at home, the Tigers didn’t come through with wins while in their opponents’ gyms.

“Our performance over break was good, but it didn’t meet expectations,” junior outside hitter Lydia Rudnick said. “We wanted to do a little more.”

While they had previously been tied for first with Yale, the losses put Princeton securely at second place in the Ivy. Especially devastating was the loss against Yale, as it was quite possibly the match that decided the Ivy League title. With its victory, Yale (17-5, 11-1) clinched its position at the top.

“We’re pretty bummed,” Rudnick said. “If we had beaten them, we could have won the Ivy League title.”

Despite dropping down to second place in the standings, the Tigers didn’t go down without a roar. Princeton started the match strongly, and, with consistent performances from the All-Ivy duo of Rudnick and senior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn and a barrage of kills from junior right side hitter Jennifer Palmquist, the Tigers won the first set by coming back from a 21-18 deficit. Freshman setter Ginny Willis cleanly closed out the first set with an ace.

The second set was the turning point of the match, characterized by kills and a constant trading off of leads. After going back and forth for much of the match, Princeton gained the lead at 18-16. But Yale relentlessly fought back and managed to gain momentum late in the set, tying the score 20-20, then responding with impressive offense by winning the final five points consecutively.

The Bulldogs maintained this momentum and dominated the third set. Although Princeton started with a 5-2 lead, Yale went on an 18-2 run and then ended the third set 25-10. The Tigers showed their resilience in the fourth set and never trailed behind the Bulldogs for more than a few points. At one time, the Tigers were down 22-17 and then won four consecutive points to get within one, but the Tigers couldn’t tie the score, and Yale finished the match with a 25-22 win in the last set.

Overall, the Tigers performed well. Palmquist and freshman middle blocker Nicole Kincade both had six kills. Senior libero Hillary Ford posted a team-best 26 digs, and Willis had 38 assists and 10 digs. The Tigers will have their shot at sharing the Ivy League title only in the unlikely event that the Bulldogs lose both of their remaining games.

For Rudnick, however, the loss was bittersweet. Although this matchup against Yale was ultimately the fight for first place, the match was memorable to Rudnick for another reason: it was a match against her sister.

“We get very competitive. We’ve always been very competitive,” Rudnick said.

This match was no exception to the sisters’ competitiveness. The sisters drove each other to perform their best. While Lydia Rudnick led the Princeton team with 17 kills and 17 digs, freshman libero Maddie Rudnick set Yale’s team best with 25 digs.

“It was really fun, especially for my parents to watch us play each other,” Rudnick said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

On the positive side, Princeton has been Yale’s only Ivy loss so far this season. In the two matches that remain, the Tigers look to regain their usual energy that contributed to the earlier wins.

“We are going to go into this weekend and work really hard,” Rudnick said. “We want to win the last games and at least finish second in the league.”

The Tigers will finish their season next weekend with two matches at home against Cornell and Columbia. Currently tied with Princeton for second place, Columbia was Princeton’s only loss prior to fall break. This time, however, Princeton will have the advantage of playing at home, and they look to this match to redeem themselves against Columbia and secure their place at second on Nov. 12.

“We want to finish the season on a high point,” Rudnick said. “Especially for our seniors, we want to make sure we win our last two games at home.”