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Princeton University Athletics
1998 Women's Volleyball Review
September 16, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Fne season removed from its second trip to the NCAA tournament in team history and its third Ivy League crown in four seasons, the 1998 women's volleyball team prepared for a climb to even greater heights.
Nine games into the season, even greater heights weren't the issue. The Tigers just wanted to get out of the ditch they started in. A heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Delaware dropped Princeton to 3-6. With the tough Ivy foes not too far on the horizon, coach Glenn Nelson and his defending league champions needed to regroup.
Starting with a 3-2 win at Bucknell, Princeton won four of its next five games. The last of those victories was a 3-0 rout of Pennsylvania in the first home match of the season. Although there were temporary lapses, especially in attacking, that stretch signaled the Tigers' entry into the Ivy race. And it was a race they were in until the end.
Princeton won five of its seven Ivy regular-season matches, losing only to Brown and Dartmouth. The closest battle occurred at Dillon Gym Oct. 9. With an explosive and defensively tough Yale squad in town, Princeton thought the match could go deep into the night. It was right. After four tense, evenly fought games, the teams prepared for a fifth and deciding game. Led by attackers Rose Kuhn and Sabrina King, who combined for 44 kills in the match, the Tigers escaped with a 15-9 win in the decisive match.
There were several factors that led the Tigers to a successful run at the end of the season. Kuhn and King, who ended the season with 511 and 504 kills, respectively, gave Princeton a deadly duo that teams couldn't fully protect against. Junior Melissa Ford averaged 11.56 assists per game and had a handful of 50- and 60-assist matches. Emily Brown was the team's most consistent hitter, finishing with a team-best .341 attack percentage. Erika Hansen didn't have Brown's consistency, but nobody was better when she was on her game than the junior. Hansen was third on the team with 361 kills.
Princeton drew the third seed in the Ivy League tournament and a rematch against Penn. Although the game scores were relatively close, Princeton cruised to a 3-0 win. Dartmouth presented much stiffer competition in the next match, winning the first game 16-14. Led by an astounding 75 assists from Ford, the Tigers gutted out wins of 19-17, 15-12 and 15-13.
Although Brown defeated Princeton in the winner's bracket finals, Nelson's squad wasn't finished. Princeton defeated Yale in another grueling five-game victory to reach the finals of the Ivy League tournament. The task was daunting, Princeton would need to defeat Brown in a best-of-five, and then a best-of-three immediately afterwards. The Tigers trailed two games to one before a 15-10 win in Game Four. Unfortunately, they couldn't sustain that type of play during their 10th game of the day. Brown, in front of its home crowd, captured the Ivy League title with a 15-9 win.
The disappointing end didn't tarnish all of the accomplishments of this team. Kuhn and King were each named to the all-tournament team while Kuhn was a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection. King and Ford were named to the second team.
Princeton loses one player next year, although significant work must be done to replace Kuhn. King, Hansen and Brown will provide plenty of offense, especially if Ford has anything to do with it. Players who started to break out in 1997, like Alexis Collins, Ana Yoerg, Somer Bingham and Sarah Petry, will be valuable assets as the Tigers continue to keep their sights set on the highest possible goals.
1998-99 Results
| Date | Opponent | Score | Place |
| 9/12-13 | Seton Hall Invitational | 319-316-635 | 10th of 15 |
| 9/19-20 | Georgetown Hoya Invitational | 296-295-591 | 6th of 16 |
| 10/2-4 | W.T. McLaughlin Invitational | 312-292-604 | 10th of 20 |
| 10/15-17 | Stabler Invitational | 316-296-612 | 4th of 16 |
| 10/23-25 | James Madison Invitational | 310-294-604 | 5th of 12 |
| 4/11-12 | Navy Invitational | 302-313-615 | 6th of 24 |
| 4/16-17 | Ivy League championship | 295-301-301-897 | 4th of 8 |
| 4/23-24 | Princeton Invitational | 297-303-600 | 4th of 20 |
| 4/30-5/1 | Rutherford Intercollegiate | 301-301-295-897 | 8th of 18 |