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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Begins Run At 15th Ivy Title Saturday Night At Penn
October 02, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
The non-league matches are finished. Now the real work begins. The Princeton women's volleyball team begins the 2008 Ivy League season Saturday night at The Palestra when it takes on 2007 runner-up Penn. The Tigers, who last season became the first team in league history to go 14-0 in Ivy play, are looking to take the first step towards an Ivy-best 15th league crown.
Princeton is currently 6-2 on the season and rides a two-match win streak into Saturday's opening match. Once again, the Tigers are led by the hitting trio of Lindsey Ensign, Parker Henritze and Sheena Donohue, each of whom are averaging at least 2.8 kills per set. Ensign has gotten off to a particularly strong start; the two-time first-team All-Ivy selection is averaging 3.14 kills and a .405 attack percentage through 28 sets played.
Two Princeton newcomers will be making their Ivy League debuts this weekend. Both Cathryn Quinn (middle) and Hillary Ford (libero) have jumped into the lineup and made immediate contributions; Quinn is hitting .351 and averages .31 blocks per set, while Ford leads the team with 4.12 digs per set. The offense is once again paced by Bailey Robinson, who led the NCAA in regular-season assists last year and earned first-team All-Ivy honors.
Standing in Princeton's way will be a Penn squad that has gone 4-8 on the season, although four of those losses were determined in the fifth set. Kathryn Turner leads Penn with 2.16 kills and .6 digs per set. Last season's Ivy opener, held at Dillon Gym, proved to be a classic; Henritze, Donohue and Ensign combined for 79 of Princeton's 95 kills in a 3-2 victory.