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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
American
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Volleyball Drops Pair To Open Rutgers Invite, Will Play Two More Saturday
September 19, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORES: American 3, Princeton 1 l James Madison 3, Princeton 2
SATURDAY LIVE STATS: Akron l Rutgers
The Princeton women's volleyball team fell to 4-4 this season during a challenging first day of the 2014 Rutgers Invitational. The Tigers held an early lead against American, a 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 team, before falling 3-1 in the opener; they dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker, 15-13 in the fifth set, later that day to James Madison.
The Tigers will return to the court twice Saturday, starting with a 10 am matchup against Akron. The weekend ends with a 5:00 meeting with the host Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
American 3, Princeton 1
Despite an early lead, Princeton wasn't able to produce arguably its biggest non-league win in years against an American team that won twice in the NCAA tournament last season. The Tigers won the opener 25-20, but the Eagles used a highly efficient offense to control the final three sets for the win.
Junior Kendall Peterkin, the two-time Ivy League Player of the Week, led the Tigers with 17 kills and 14 digs, while reigning first-team All-Ivy outside hitter Cara Mattaliano added 13 kills and 12 digs. The Tigers didn't get double-digit kills from anybody else, though middle Brittany Ptak had nine kills from the middle and hit .333 in the match.
The Princeton defense didn't have enough answers for American after the opener, when the Eagles were held to a .143 attack percentage. American hit over .300 in each of the final three sets, including .606 in the third, to control the match.
James Madison 3, Princeton 2
Senior middle Nicole Kincade recorded a career-best 16 kills and hit .400 with two service aces and two blocks, but they wouldn't be enough for Princeton in a 3-2 marathon loss to James Madison.
The Dukes led 2-1 after a 25-22 win in the third set, but Princeton fought back for a 29-27 win in the fourth set, which concluded on back-to-back kills from Kincade. Mattaliano and Kincade fought off two match balls in the fifth set, but James Madison converted its third on a Janey Goodman kill to take the match.
Peterkin had her fourth 20-kill match of the young season, as well as her third 20-20 match of the season (21 k, 26 d). Both junior libero Sarah Daschbach and freshman outside Kelly Matthews had 21 digs, while sophomore Lauren Miller had 53 assists in the loss.