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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Volleyball Sweeps Third Tournament In As Many Weeks, Will Open Ivy Season Friday
September 25, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
The Princeton women's volleyball team had nine matches to prepare itself for the 2006 Ivy League season. While head coach Glenn Nelson and assistant Sabrina King wanted to see how each of the young players would perform, they also wanted to see if the group could gel into a cohesive, winning force.
Nine tests, nine passed with flying colors.
After opening the season with sweeps at the Colgate and Bucknell tournaments, Princeton spent last weekend completing a three-match sweep of the Red Flash Invitational in Loretto, Pa. Princeton defeated Coppin State 3-0 on Friday night (30-16, 30-17, 30-18), and then won the title with a 3-2 win over Stony Brook (30-26, 33-31, 26-30, 28-30, 15-10) and a 3-1 win over host Stony Brook (30-20, 30-18, 21-30, 30-17). Sophomore middle hitter Lindsay Ensign was named tournament MVP after killing 45 balls and hitting .538 for the weekend. Classmate Parker Henritze joined her on the all-tournament team with a weekend-best 48 kills to go along with her 38 digs.
Princeton 3, Coppin State 0
Princeton had little trouble in its first match, hitting .519 in both of its first two games and cruising to a 3-0 win over Coppin State. Henritze had a match-high 12 kills, while Ensign had nine kills and 0 errors in the win. Sophomore setter Bailey Robinson paced the offense with 36 assists and helped the Tigers hit .424 for the match. She added three kills on seven swings in the match.
Princeton was able to get its entire roster into the match, and 10 players recorded at least one kills in the win. Junior libero Emily Turner led the defense with nine digs, while Ensign and Robinson both had four blocks.
Princeton 3, Stony Brook 2
Playing its closest match since the 2006 season opener, the Tigers came up with big points in the fifth game to improve to 8-0 on the season. After winning the first two games 30-26 and 33-31, Stony Brook rallied for 30-26 and 30-28 wins to force a fifth game.
Trailing 9-8 in the fifth game, Princeton got a kill from rightside Kelli Grobe to even the score, and a Stony Brook error gave Princeton a 10-9 edge. Ensign came up with a block to extend the lead to 11-9, and following a Stony Brook timeout, Princeton added two more points with a kill by Henritze and another Stony Brook error. Leading 13-10, consecutive kills by Ensign and freshman Sheena Donohue, who had 45 kills during the weekend, gave Princeton the win.
Ensign was at her best in this one, killing 25 balls while hitting .535 for the match. She added seven blocks and a pair of digs, while outsides Henritze and Donohue combined for 31 kills and 23 digs in the win. Robinson had 58 of Princeton's 62 assists, while Turner led all Princeton players with 20 digs. Grobe hit .500 for the match with six kills.
Princeton 3, St. Francis 1
Princeton clinched the tournament title with a 30-20, 30-18, 21-30, 30-16 victory over host St. Francis. The outsides carried the majority of the offense against the Red Hawks. Donohue killed 23 balls and recorded 14 digs, while Henritze added 20 kills and 17 digs. Princeton hit .302 for the match.
Princeton will open its 2006 Ivy season next Saturday at Penn, and will make its home debut Sunday at 2 p.m. against Juniata.