The Princeton women’s volleyball team (14–10 overall, 12–2 Ivy League) secured a share of the Ivy League regular season title in their last two conference games this weekend.
On Friday night, the Tigers traveled to New Hampshire to sweep Dartmouth (10–14, 3–11) 3–0 (25–22, 25–21, 25–16). They then finished their regular season play with a 3–1 (25–16, 22–25, 25–13, 25–17) road win over Harvard (10–13, 5–9) on Saturday afternoon.
Heading into the weekend, the Tigers stood one win below Yale (14–10, 12–2) in the Ivy League. Princeton came off a Friday night win against Dartmouth, and Yale was riding a victory against Columbia (4–19, 1–13). The Tigers needed a win at Harvard and a Yale loss to Cornell to match Yale’s record and split the title.
Fortunately for the Tigers, the stars aligned on Saturday, with Yale’s defeat coming just moments after Princeton’s triumph in the Harvard game. Yale’s most recent loss to a league opponent other than Princeton was Nov. 15, 2021 against Dartmouth.
“The bus was going crazy,” head coach Sabrina King wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “We were tracking the game very closely on our phones!”
Tigers sweep Dartmouth in three close sets
The Tigers began their first set against Dartmouth with a display of resilience, overcoming an early 4–1 deficit with a 4–0 run of their own. Dartmouth pushed back, leading the set 14–12 before the Tigers bounced back with a 6–0 run.
Both runs were highlighted by kills from sophomore outside hitter Kamryn Chaney, who leads the Ivy League in kills and points this season.
S1: PRINCETON 16, DARTMOUTH 14
— Princeton Women’s Volleyball (@PrincetonWVB) November 16, 2024
Kamryn Chaney with a kill, per usual...#NCAAWVB
📷: https://t.co/3reL7rHQYb pic.twitter.com/czlaJ8mmnJ
The two teams continued trading points until a kill from sophomore libero Sydney Bold ended the set 25–22 in favor of the Tigers.
“I’ve been so impressed with the steadiness of Bold this season,” Coach King wrote. “She is a superstar that gets little recognition.”
The second set was also close, with a late Dartmouth 4–0 run bringing the set to two points, 21–19 in favor of the Tigers. But a kill by senior hitter Shelby Fulton, back-to-back aces from Bold, and a combination of a junior hitter Valerie Nutakor kill with a junior middle blocker Lucia Scalamandre block put the Tigers back in control. On set point, first-year middle blocker Jackie Onyechi killed the set 25–21.
“This season, the first-years have really added to the energy and enthusiasm of the team and have been a necessary part of the good vibes,” Coach King noted.
Although the third set started with a comfortable 6–1 lead for the Tigers, Dartmouth once again showed no signs of giving up. The set was a close 19–16 in favor of Princeton, but the Tigers won the last six points straight, sparked by another Chaney kill until Onyechi once again ended the set with a kill to complete the sweep.
Compared to the 3–1 win earlier this season against Dartmouth, Friday’s match saw an improved hitting percentage and fewer overall errors from the Tigers. Chaney added 15 kills and 11 digs to earn her eleventh double-double of the season, while Onyechi recorded a career-high 12 kills.
Tigers concede one but dominate three sets at Harvard
Standing one win below the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League Standings, the Tigers traveled to Cambridge needing a win to have a chance of splitting the title with Yale.
“We knew we needed help to win the title, so we just focused on our side of the equation, which is win,” King explained. “Win out. We have a lot of confidence in our ‘product,’ so our focus was on execution.”
Starting with a clever dump by sophomore setter Sydney Draper, the Tigers began the first set with a 3–0 run. From there they comfortably maintained at least a 5-point lead throughout the set.
“I thought setter Sydney Draper did a fantastic job running the offense against Harvard,” said coach King.
S4: PRINCETON 16, HARVARD 10
— Princeton Women’s Volleyball (@PrincetonWVB) November 16, 2024
Sydney Draper with the stealthy dump! #GoTigers
💻: https://t.co/UinP8rz0rH #NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/rMeCBa8YCv
After Chaney poked it over her blockers to set up set point at 24–16, Harvard struck the net to end the first set 25–16 in favor of the Tigers.
But the Tigers were met with Crimson fire to start the second set: an early 7–0 run and four service aces in their first 11 points meant the Tigers were down 11–3. A Nutakor kill sparked a 7–1 run for the Tigers to bring the set close at 12–10, but Harvard responded with a 5–0 run of their own. The Tigers were not able to hold off Harvard’s momentum and lost the close set 25–22.
Despite the setback, the Tigers came out of the break clearly refocused and reorganized, dominating the next two sets. Despite a close beginning to the third at a 6–5 Princeton lead, a Scalamandre kill sparked a 6–0 run that the Tigers never looked back on, winning the third set 25–13. The fourth set started close until sophomore middle blocker Ava Harrington block sparked a 4–0 Tiger run. With errors from the Crimson and precision from the Tigers, Princeton won the fourth and final set 25–17.
Despite conceding a set, the Tigers committed almost half as many errors as their previous win over Harvard this season. Kamryn added another 15 kills and 10 digs for her twelfth double-double this season, while Onyechi produced a career-high nine blocks.
With the win, the Tigers hopes clung to the result from Cornell against Yale, which came that same night. Marking their 20th Ivy League title, the most in the conference, the Tigers also secured the number one seed due to their record against Cornell, meaning Princeton will host the 2024 Ivy League Tournament.
The Tigers will kick off championship action on Friday at 4 p.m. in Dillon Gym against the No. 4 seed Brown Bears (11–13, 8–6), whom they’ve already swept this season.
“I think it’s business as usual — we have seen all these teams twice and beaten them, so strategically I think we know what we need to do,” wrote King regarding next weekend’s matchup. “We are not underdogs, we know wholeheartedly that we can win.”
Bryant Figueroa is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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