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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Heads To Philadelphia For Villanova Classic
September 11, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
With hopes of building on its first victory of the season Wednesday night, the Princeton women's volleyball team will head down to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the challenging Villanova Classic.
Princeton, which rallied past Seton Hall in four sets Wednesday night, will begin play Friday at 5 p.m. against George Washington. The Colonials are 3-3 on the season, although its three losses came last weekend in the Minnesota Diet Coke Classic, which featured both No. 12 Iowa State and No. 13 Minnesota. George Washington has three players averaging more than 2.5 kills per set, including Leah Hill, who leads the team with 3.68 per set.
On Saturday at 11 a.m., Princeton will face host Villanova. The Wildcats come into the weekend with a 5-2 record, although one of its losses was a 3-2 thriller to Penn. Kim Maroon led Villanova against the Quakers with 29 digs and five aces, while Krista Anderson recorded 16 kills and 11 digs. Villanova opened the season with five straight wins and will play UMBC Friday night.
Princeton's weekend finale will come Saturday at 5 against UMBC. The Retrievers, who haven't played Princeton in 18 years, are 2-4 on the season after falling in three sets to George Mason Wednesday. Senior Ashley Oscars led UMBC with 11 kills against the Patriots.
While Princeton head coach Jolie Ward would love to come out of the weekend with a winning record, she continues to look for growth from her young squad. On Wednesday, after a slow start to the third set, Princeton went on a 37-14 to take control of the Seton Hall match; during the run, Ward saw glimpses of the team she hopes she sees when the Ivy League season rolls around. There is still significant youth in the program, including freshman starters Molly Bagshaw (setter) and Lydia Rudnick (outside hitter), but there are also some experienced players that Ward will count on to carry the team early. Leading the way is senior outside and two-time All-Ivy honoree Sheena Donohue, who was named to the all-tournament team at the Delaware Invitational last weekend.