Women’s volleyball hands Yale its first Ivy loss of the season

On senior night, women’s volleyball (19–3 overall, 11–1 Ivy League) came out firing, dominating the Yale Bulldogs (19–2, 11–1) in a 3–1 victory. Coming into Saturday night, Yale stood undefeated in Ivy play, having handed Princeton their only Ivy loss earlier in the season.

The first set was very competitive. After the Tigers went up 8–7, they never lost their lead, although the Bulldogs stayed only five or less points behind the rest of the set. First-year blocker Lucia Scalamandre helped close the set out for the Tigers, coming off of the bench with key kills. With this, Princeton won its first set of the season against Yale, with a scoreline of 25–20.

The second set played out in a similar fashion. The frame was close until Princeton broke the game open and went on a 5–0 run, giving the Tigers a four point advantage at 20–16. After this, Princeton never stepped off the gas pedal and won the set by the same score they did in the first, 25–20.

Unsurprisingly, the third set was as much of a battle as the first two. Though the score was close, Yale was in the driver’s seat the entire set; the Bulldogs never once gave up their lead in set three. After Yale scored four straight points to make the set 15–8, Princeton could not catch up. The set ended with a 25–21 Yale win.

In the fourth set, the Tigers came in hot, scoring five straight points to take the early lead. Yale almost immediately responded, going on a 4–0 streak of their own. The set was neck-and-neck until the very end and ended on a devastating service error by Yale, giving the Tigers a chance to take control and hand Yale its first Ivy loss of the season.

Princeton was propelled by some key players in their win against Yale on Saturday night. Scalamandre ended with 14 kills and nine blocks, and sophomore blocker/hitter Mariah Haislip ended with 10 kills. Along with Scalamandre and Haislip, senior setter Lindsey Kelly ended with 45 assists in the game.

“The tough win against Brown the night before was only fuel to the fire. After winning a close fifth set like that, I think it only proved to everyone that a game can really go any way and that we can persevere even through a three-hour game,” Scalamandre told The Daily Princetonian.

The first-year player credited Head Coach Sabrina King for her ability to provide support for the team, even under high pressure.

“She really helped the team stay calm in situations where pressure was at its highest,” she added. “I don’t think we had much mentally to do the week before: everyone had known this was going to be our biggest and most personal match after losing to them in their gym three weeks ago.”

The reliability of Princeton’s captains has also been repeatedly noted by the women’s volleyball team.

“Our captains, Olivia and Cam, are remarkable in keeping a positive but intense attitude towards every point, regardless if we are up or down in a game,” Scalamandre said.

The Tigers are on the road for their next two games, playing Columbia (5–16, 2–10) on Nov. 11th at 7 p.m. and Cornell (5–16, 3–9) on the 12th at 5 p.m.