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Princeton University Athletics
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Kelly Matthews Talks "Playing Princeton Volleyball" & Crucial Home Weekend
October 29, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Sophomore Kelly Matthews has been one of Princeton's starting outsides for two seasons, and she is coming up on one of her biggest weekends over that stretch. She joined GoPrincetonTigers.TV to talk about her team's climb from an early Ivy hole, the excitement of playing in Dillon and the keys to this weekend's showdowns with Ivy frontrunners Dartmouth and Harvard.
You can watch the video by clicking the play link above, and you can read the weekend preview below.
You can't ask for a bigger four-match homestand for the Princeton volleyball team, which can put itself right into the heart of the Ivy League title chase if it can defend Dillon Gym over the next nine days.
| Schedule | Dartmouth at Princeton, Fri, 7 pm • Harvard at Princeton, Sat, 5 pm |
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| Rosters | Princeton l Harvard l Dartmouth |
| Schedules | Princeton l Harvard l Dartmouth |
| Statistics | Princeton l Harvard l Dartmouth |
| Last Weekend | Princeton Tops Penn 3-1 l Peterkin, Nussbaum Claim Ivy Honors |
| Ivy League | Standings • Weekly Release • Statistics |
Princeton (9-8, 4-4) will host both Ivy League frontrunners, Dartmouth and Harvard, this coming weekend in matches that will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network. The Big Green (9-8, 6-2) will open the weekend Friday at 7, while Harvard (10-8, 6-2) will visit Dillon Saturday at 5 pm.
Princeton lost to both teams on the road earlier this season, though both were early during the Ivy season. The Crimson, who shared the Ivy League title with Yale last season, posted a fairly convincing 3-0 win in Boston, while Dartmouth fought off Princeton in a tight second set and won the final two for a 3-1 victory in Hanover.
At that point, Princeton was 0-3 in the Ivy League and seemed out of the race before it really began. However, the Tigers have come back to win four out of the next five, and they will host all four teams ahead of them in the standings over the next two weekends.
They also are coming off one of their best performances of the season, a dominant 3-1 win at Penn. All-Ivy senior Kendall Peterkin had 22 kills (the 14th 20+ kill performance of her career) to earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors, while freshman setter Claire Nussbaum had career highs in assists and digs — while also serving Princeton on a 12-0 run — to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors.
The Tigers will need those two players, but the junior duo of Cara Mattaliano (Top 10 in the Ivy League in kills) and Brittany Ptak (second in the Ivy League in hitting percentage) have also been peaking recently, and both have shown the ability to take over matches.
Dartmouth has the Ivy League kills leader in Emily Astarita (3.98 k/set), while Harvard has one of the top contenders for Player of the Year honors in do-it-all junior Corinne Bain.