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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
George Washington
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Suffers Second Hearbreaker Of Season, Falls 3-2 To George Washington
September 12, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Last Saturday, Princeton watched two match balls come and go in a 3-2 loss to Rutgers. Friday night, in the opening match of the Villanova Classic, the Tigers went 0-for-5 in match balls and saw a 2-0 lead turn into a 3-2 loss to George Washington.
Princeton, coming off its first win of the season Wednesday night, got stellar performances from its outside hitters. Freshman Lydia Rudnick recorded a career-best 20 kills and added 18 digs, while senior co-captain Sheena Donohue recorded 19 kills and 27 digs, but those performances would not be enough in the two-hour, seven-minute marathon.
Princeton won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-16 and grabbed a 24-22 lead in the third after a kill by Taylor Carroll. A kill by Leah Hill and an ace by Alex Coward evened the score, but Princeton would have three more shots at the set. George Washington fought two off with a kill and a block and got a hitting error to even the score at 28. The Colonials won the next two points to stay alive and take control of the match momentum.
A 7-0 run by George Washington in the fourth set pushed the Colonials to a 25-20 lead and sent Princeton into its second five-set match of the young season. The Colonials got out to an early lead, but the Tigers showed resilience by fighting back to an 11-9 deficit. It would get no closer, and George Washington was able to side out to a 15-12 victory.
Princeton got double-digit digs from five players. Besides the strong efforts from Donohue and Rudnick, the Tigers got 18 digs from Torri Patel, 14 from Hillary Ford and a 61-assist, 17-dig effort from freshman Molly Bagshaw. Freshman Jennifer Palmquist had her strongest match at the middle position; she recorded nine kills and a team-best six blocks.
Princeton will play Villanova Saturday at 11 a.m. and UMBC at 5 p.m.