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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Delaware
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Posts Perfect Day With Another Comeback; Tigers Top Delaware 3-2
September 13, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORES: Princeton 3, Delaware 2 l Princeton 3, George Mason 2
Live Stats l Tournament Central
Every win is a good one. Some, however, can have a little more impact than others. Princeton may have earned one of those Friday night, as it rallied past Delaware to cap a perfect first day at the Delaware Invitational.
Six hours after rallying past George Mason for a 3-2 win in the opening match of the weekend tournament, Princeton took on a Delaware team that earned 3-0 wins over both Harvard and Penn in the last week. The Tigers found themselves trailing 2-1 for the third straight match, but they dug deep and stunned the home crowd in the Bob Carpenter Center with an impressive team effort.
Four players recorded double-digit kills in a 25-14, 20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory over the Blue Hens, who fell to 6-4 with the loss. Princeton, which got 19 kills from Cara Mattaliano and 18 from reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Kendall Peterkin, improved to 3-2 with the win.
While offense was crucial, especially on a 5-0 Princeton run in the fifth set that gave the Tigers a lead they wouldn't relinquish, the defense played a huge role in the win. Junior Sarah Daschbach recorded 30 digs, the second-most in her career, and the Tigers held Delaware to a .201 hitting percentage in the final set.
After winning the fourth set 25-22, the Tigers found themselves in an 8-6 hole in the fifth set. Mattaliano, a first-team Alll-Ivy honoree as a freshman last season, killed three straight balls to give Princeton the lead, and the Tigers added two more to lead 11-8. Princeton got a kill from Nicole Kincade, who filled up the stat sheet against George Mason, to open a 14-10 lead, and Kincade ended the day with an ace.
Freshman Pauli King capped a terrific day with 11 kills, while sophomore middle Brittany Ptak added 10. Kincade had nine kills and six blocks, while Lauren Miller paced a very efficient Princeton offense with 60 assists.
Princeton will conclude the Delaware Invitational Saturday morning with a 10 am match against Manhattan.
Princeton 3, George Mason 2
Senior Nicole Kincade remembered her freshman days, and how tough it could be on the court. So she was all the more impressed with young teammate Pauli King, who took over the final set to lead the Princeton women's volleyball team to a 3-2 comeback win over George Mason in the first match of the Delaware Invitational.
King recorded 13 kills, including four in the decisive fifth set, and added seven digs and two blocks to lead the Tigers to a 20-25, 25-17, 16-25, 25-9, 15-10 win over Mason. Princeton will return to the court Friday night at 7 pm against host Delaware, and will take on Manhattan Saturday morning at 10 am.
There were stretches of strong play and others that the team would be happy to forget, but Princeton showed the former when it mattered most. Trailing 2-1 after an ugly third set, the Tigers dominated the fourth set, hitting .393 in a 25-9 win. They got out quickly in the fifth, with King supplying four of the first five points, and never let Mason seriously challenge for the lead.
The win moves Princeton to 2-2 on the season.
Reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Kendall Peterkin was strong again with 17 kills and 14 digs, while Kincade filled the box score with seven kills, seven blocks, four digs and two sevice aces. Fellow middle Brittany Ptak continued to show her offensive improvement with eight kills.