This weekend, Princeton women’s volleyball (3–8 overall, 1–1 Ivy League) dueled with the University of Pennsylvania Quakers (7–4 overall, 1–1 Ivy League) in a two-game series to kick off Ivy League play for the season.
“I think the team is feeling good about Ivy play this season, even with losing our first home game this past Friday,” junior blocker Lucia Scalamandre wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “We were able to turn it around and beat Penn the next day, which was definitely the morale boost we needed.”
Match 1: Princeton Falls at Dillon Gym
Walking into their home opener, the Tigers boasted a 15-game win streak across the program’s history against the Quakers. Despite a solid start, Princeton was upset 3–1 in their Ivy opener.
The Tigers kicked the first set off with an 8–2 lead, prompting a timeout from Penn in a quick attempt to adjust. Princeton kept the kills coming from sophomore outside hitter Kamryn Chaney and Scalamandre as they extended their lead, though Penn began to show some signs of resistance. The Quakers got within striking distance at 19–14, but the Tigers put an end to this comeback and clinched the set 25–17, with an ace from first-year libero Sylvia Bunde.
The Quakers, however, were undeterred, as they won the next two sets 25–20 and 25–18 respectively.
The fourth set seemed as if it could have gone either way as the Tigers and Quakers stood at a 9–9 tie. The Tigers then won three consecutive points to take the advantage at 12–9 with two kills from Chaney and one from sophomore setter Sydney Draper. The Tiger momentum persevered as they widened the lead to 15–11, but the Quakers fought back and tied the set back up at 15–15. The stalemate increased to a 17–17 tie in the final moments of the fourth set. However, three consecutive aces from the Quakers was the beginning of the end for Princeton as the set closed out at 25–21 for a Penn road upset.
The Tigers were missing sophomore libero Sydney Bold and senior setter Gracie Wood due to injuries at the start of Ivy League play. In Bold’s absence, junior libero Ella Bunde had a match high 15 digs.
“We have had a few injuries early in the season, but I am so excited for them to return back to the court,” Scalamandre added.
Match 2: The Tigers return the favor in Philadelphia
On Saturday, Princeton hit the road for a rematch against Penn. The Tigers traveled down to Philadelphia in hopes of taking an away victory from the Quakers just as they had done to Princeton the night before. They did just that, as Princeton took the victory 3–1 in the same fashion.
In an unusual twist, the match was moved from the Palestra to Rockwell Gymnasium due to extreme humidity, which made the Palestra’s floors unplayable.
Onyechi jump started the Tigers off to a 6–2 lead in the opening set behind strong play up front. The Quakers responded by completely flipping the match around and playing up to a 10–8 advantage. Despite a short-lived resurgence from Princeton to tie at 13–13, the Quakers extended their lead to 21–15. With their backs against the wall, the Tigers rallied for a 5–0 run, including a monstrous kill from Scalamandre to close the gap, allowing the Tigers to win a set point opportunity at 24–22. Despite this Princeton revival, the Quakers didn’t let them close it out and took the set at 26–24.
The second set was a battle with the teams tying 11 different times throughout. Princeton commanded the middle of the set at 11–9 after a 5–0 run led by a kill from junior outside hitter Valerie Nutakor. The teams tied for the last time at 22–22 before Onyechi and senior outside hitter Shelby Fulton each had a kill in store to get Princeton two set point opportunities. Nutakor clinched the set for Princeton at 25–23.
Princeton started the third set off strong with a 10–5 lead which caused Penn to play catch-up for the remainder of the set. The closest the Quakers were able to get was 13–12, but Princeton did not allow any more close calls. At 21–19, Penn made a fatal unforced error, which was followed by a kill from Chaney to put the Quakers behind 23–19. Nutakor once again made the set-winning kill to clinch the set for the Tigers at 25–21.
Princeton truly shined in the final set, playing an absolutely merciless game and taking any hope away from Penn. The advantage was in the Tigers’ court as Scalamandre served up an ace to bring the score to 15–5. The Tigers brought the gap up to a massive 13-point lead for the Tigers at 21–8 with blocks from Fulton and Onyechi. The Quakers simply could not respond to the damage, and a final double block by Scalamandre and Draper concluded the set and match 25–12 on a vengeful note for the Tigers.
The Tigers will be back in action at home in Dillon Gymnasium next weekend for another Ivy series — Brown on Oct. 4 (3–7 overall, 0–1 Ivy League), and Yale (6–3 overall, 1–0 Ivy League) on Oct. 5.
“Our next weekend will probably be our biggest with Yale/Brown at home, and so we are spending this week preparing for a second chance to win at home,” Scalamandre noted.
“[We] know that since we lost our first home game to Penn, we will have to win just about every other game this season to Ivies. While it's a lot of pressure, it is also exciting to know that every game means so much.”
Josefina Gurevich is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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