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Princeton University
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker To Rutgers, Falls 3-0 To Army
September 06, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Missed opportunities against Rutgers and an ineffective defense against Army sent the Princeton women's volleyball team to an 0-3 weekend during its season-opening tournament at the Delaware Invitational. Princeton missed two match balls in the afternoon showdown with Rutgers and allowed Army to hit .333 in the weekend finale.
Following Friday night's 3-0 loss to host Delaware, Princeton seemed primed for its first win of the season after winning the first two sets (26-24, 25-20) against Rutgers. In the opening set, Princeton battled back from an 18-13 deficit with a 9-4 that concluded with one of Sheena Donohue's 26 kills on the day. After fighting off one set ball at 24-23, Princeton won three in a row to take the set, and it ran off the first seven points of the second set during a strong service run by C.C. Lobben.
Rutgers cruised to wins in the third and fourth sets, taking victories of 25-13 and 25-14. The fifth set was tight throughout, but a block by Donohue and Elizabeth McStravick gave Princeton two match balls at 14-12. A service error and a block got Rutgers back even, and after fighting off one more match ball, Rutgers picked up the 17-15 win with a kill by Caitlin Saxton.
Donohue led Princeton with 15 kills and 17 digs, while Cathryn Quinn added 12 kills and four blocks. Freshman Molly Bagshaw recorded 39 assists, while senior Taylor Carroll recorded 14 digs.
The weekend finale featured three closer sets between Princeton and Army, but all three went to the Golden Knights. Army moved to 5-2 with the 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 victory, while Princeton fell to 0-3 and will look for its first win Wednesday in its home opener against Seton Hall. Donohue had 11 kills in the loss to Army, while freshman Lydia Rudnick recorded nine kills without any errors for a .409 hitting percentage.
"Our goal is to minimize errors and stay consistent in game play," head coach Jolie Ward. "I think we improved in every game we played this weekend. Every day we step on the court, we want to get closer to putting everything together."
Donohue was named to the all-tournament team at the end of the Delaware-Rutgers match.