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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
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Volleyball Posts Dramatic Comeback, Sets Up Showdown Weekend At Dillon Gym
November 08, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
For the six seniors on the Princeton women's volleyball team, the final Ivy League road match came Saturday afternoon at Harvard. If they go out with a second straight Ivy title, they'll remember that match forever. Princeton rallied from two sets down to stun the Crimson 3-2 as one of the non-senior starters, Sheena Donohue, completed a brilliant weekend for the Orange and Black.
One night after a 14-kill, 21-dig effort in a 3-0 win at Dartmouth, Donohue topped that effort with 21 kills and 22 digs in a 25-27, 15-25, 25-13, 25-22, 15-7 win over Harvard. The victory moves Princeton to 16-3 overall, 10-1 in the Ivy League race, while Harvard fell to 9-15, 4-8. The Tigers, who swept the Ivy League last year en route to their 14th Ivy League title, remain a half game behind Yale; the Bulldogs stand 11-1 in the Ivy League after sweeping Cornell Saturday 3-0. While Yale and Princeton seem to be on a collision course Saturday for the Ivy League title, Penn is still in the mix. The Quakers held on for a 3-2 win at Dartmouth Saturday and are 8-3 in the Ivy League; should Penn win on Friday and Brown defeat Princeton the same night, Penn would control its own destiny in the league race.
Through two sets at Harvard, things appeared to be working out for both Yale and Penn. Despite trailing 11-2 in the first set, Harvard went on a late roll to pull out a 27-25 win, and it carried that momentum into the second set.
"Give Harvard credit for that second game, they were unconscious," Princeton head coach Glenn Nelson said. "The one that really bothered me was the first game. To our credit, we clawed our way back into it. The experience of the last three years really helped, and we played pretty well those last three sets."
Princeton built a 7-1 lead in the third set and a 5-1 lead in the shorter fifth set. The fourth was the closest, but Princeton maintained the lead throughout much of it.
While Donohue again led the play, she was far from the only contributor. Senior Bailey Robinson recorded a match-high 57 assists, while classmate Lindsey Ensign recorded 19 kills, three blocks and a .421 attack percentage. Senior Parker Henritze recorded 15 kills and 12 digs, while fellow senior Sasha Sadrai added 14 digs. The top defensive effort came from freshman libero Hillary Ford, who recorded 25 digs in the match. Harvard got strong efforts from Christine Wu (40 digs) and Kathryn McKinley (19 kills/11 digs).
Princeton will play its final three matches at home, beginning Friday night against Brown (7 p.m.). At the same time, Yale plays Penn at The Palestra, where the Quakers have won four straight matches. Regardless of either result, Saturday's 4 p.m. contest between Yale and Princeton at Dillon Gym will have Ivy League championship implications. Check back with GoPrincetonTigers.com later this week for a full breakdown of the championship possibilities.