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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Penn
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Sweeps Penn In Philadelphia To Ignite Strong Ivy League Start
September 27, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORE
The last four times Princeton and Penn met in the Ivy League opener, the matches went deep into a fifth set. This time, the Tigers passed on the drama and posted one of its most dominant performances in the recent history of this series.
Princeton improved to 6-5 overall, 1-0 in the Ivy League, with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-14 victory over the Quakers (3-8, 0-1) Friday night in the Palestra. It was only Princeton's first 3-0 victory of the season, but it couldn't have come at a more opportune time.
"Everyone did their job," head coach Sabrina King said. "We had a pretty extensive scouting report against them since we only played one team this week, and they executed it. Our block was really strong, and I think it made them hit out of their comfort zone."
Princeton held Penn to a .054 attack percentage in the match, while the upperclassman duo of Kendall Peterkin and Nicole Kincade handled the majority of the offensive attack. Peterkin, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week already this season, had 14 kills, 11 digs, eight blocks and five service aces; Kincade, the lone senior in the starting lineup, had 13 kills, seven blocks and hit .400 for the match.
"I've had more time to develop a connection with our setter Lauren and am really excited about my final season on the team so I want to leave everything on the court," Kincade said after the match. "Overall I think our team has a ton of confidence this season and it is helping us all to perform really well."
Sophomore Lauren Miller, the Ivy League leader in assists, paced the offense with 29 assists, while outsides Cara Mattaliano and Kelly Matthews both had three kills apiece. Junior libero Sarah Daschbach paced the back-row defense with eight digs, though it was the front row that did the most damage. Princeton outblocked Penn 10-2 in the win.
Penn actually held a 10-8 lead in the first set when Daschbach served Princeton on a 10-0 run that took total control of the opening set. Daschbach followed with a 9-0 run early in the second set to build a quick 9-1 lead, and Princeton won 11 of the first 13 points in the third set to seize control of the match.
"We've been working on it a lot, and when we have the advantage, keeping serves in and not hurting our momentum," King said. "Know when a player is struggling, and go for it. It's an aggressive approach, and they have really taken to it."
"Instead of focusing on the big picture this week we focused on smaller scale skills and in particular keeping the other team from going on runs," Kincade, whose slide provided a kill on match point, added. "I think that gave us the opportunity to beat Penn the way that we did."
Princeton will make its home debut next weekend when it hosts Cornell (Fri, 7 pm) and Columbia (Sat, 5 pm) at Dillon Gym.