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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Hoping Early Competition Pays Championship Dividends In 2015
September 01, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
This is the first of a two-part preview of the Princeton women's volleyball season. A preview video and a look at this weekend's George Washington Invitational will be posted tomorrow.
Competition has been the buzzword throughout the Princeton women's volleyball preseason. Though head coach Sabrina King loves the camaraderie within her team, she has pushed the idea of strong competition at practice, both for playing time and simply to make everybody else better.
Ultimately, she hopes that all leads to competition within the top tier of the Ivy League. Princeton went 9-1 against the five teams below it in the standings, but it went 0-4 against co-champions Harvard and Yale. If all goes well, Princeton will be far more competitive in that triangle and challenge for its first Ivy title since 2007.
That is a competition for another day, though. The Tigers will open their 2015 season this weekend at the George Washington Invitational, where they will play GW, UC-Davis and Radford in the opening weekend. While the other three teams opened their seasons last weekend, Princeton at least returns six starters, including three who have earned All-Ivy honors over the last two seasons.
Here is a look at the 2015 Princeton Tigers:
OUTSIDE HITTERS
As a freshman, Cara Mattaliano ranked second in the league in kills and third in points. Her sophomore season was strong, but it didn't have the same consistency or dominance from the previous year.
It took King one practice to see how motivated Mattaliano was to return to her previous form. The junior, who is on pace to challenge for the 1,000-kill mark for her career, has grown to be both a vocal and physical leader, and she will be called upon for more swings this season (more on that later). Mattaliano has already proven to be a top outside in the league, but she could be primed for her best season yet.
Sophomore Kelly Matthews started the majority of the 2014 season opposite Mattaliano, and she is likely to do the same to start the upcoming season. Her freshman numbers weren't as flashy as Mattaliano's from the previous season, but they improved over time. In her first sixteen matches, Matthews reached at least eight kills once; in her final six matches, she did it three times.
With both the year of experience and an offseason of conditioning, King hopes Matthews can shoulder more of the offensive burden this season.
King has depth at the outside position, but it could take time for those players to truly challenge the starting duo. Sophomore Pauli King had strong pre-Ivy play, but an injury cost her the rest of the season. Junior Mary Claire Bennett also missed the second half of last season. Freshman Brooke Hershberger has had impressive moments in the preseason, and King believes she will only improve as she gets more comfortable in the system.
RIGHTSIDE
So the reason King wants to see her outsides take on more of the offensive burden is to ensure that senior Kendall Peterkin is at her best through mid-November. After all, she is among the league's most talented players, and a true Ivy League championship push will require Peterkin's best.
After all, Peterkin's best is something to behold. An AVCA all-region honoree, Peterkin ranked in the NCAA Top 15 in both kills (4.55) and points (5.21) last season. She also had more than 1,000 swings, over 200 more than her previous high.
King wants every swing to count this season, and if that means cutting back on those, so be it.
A co-captain this season, Peterkin remains one of the most dangerous hitters in the league. But King also believes in her freshman backup, Brittany Smith, a two-time state champion in Florida. The 6-2 rightside was an all-tournament team selection at the 2014 USA Volleyball High Performance Women's International Team Championships, and she has the ability to start immediately for most teams.
Fortunately, most teams don't have Peterkin in that spot, but King will find a way to get Smith on the court and preserve as much of her senior standout, especially before the Ivy League season.
MIDDLE BLOCKERS
Heading into the 2014 preseason, Princeton looked set with the senior duo of Nicole Kincade and Tiana Woolridge. One (Kincade) had a career year and earned first-team All-Ivy honors; Woolridge, however, suffered a season-ending injury on the first day of preseason.
That injury was devastating at the time, but it did open the door for current junior Brittany Ptak, and she took advantage of the moment. Ptak hit .329 and earned All-Ivy honors in her first season as a starter, and she has looked as good as anybody in Orange and Black this preseason. Ptak may not be as intimidating defensively as Kincade, but her speed and awareness on the offensive side of the net is special.
If Princeton passes well enough to open the middle, Ptak could post big, efficient numbers this year.
Replacing Kincade is easily the biggest challenge of the offseason for King, though her two top options are working hard for the opportunity. Senior Stephanie Marani brings the most experience in the system, though she hasn't seen much match time throughout her career. Senior Nnenna Ibe was an All-New Jersey honoree in both volleyball and track last year, and she does possess the kind of intimidating defense that both Kincade and Woolridge had. But Ibe is still a freshman with a steep learning curve, so it will be interesting to see just how much better she is by the start of the Ivy League season.
SETTER/LIBERO
Junior Lauren Miller has been a two-year starter for Princeton at the setter position, and she already has more than 1,700 assists in her career. She went up nearly two full assists per set in her sophomore season, and her connection with the returning hitters (Peterkin, Mattaliano and Miller) has been even better this preseason.
Freshman Claire Nussbaum, a former three-time state champion from San Diego, has gotten off to a solid start in the preseason, which has created both good competition for Miller and allowed for a higher level of scrimmaging at practice.
Senior co-captain Sarah Daschbach already ranks fifth all-time at Princeton in career digs, and she could reach No. 2 with a strong senior season. A three-year starter, Daschbach is coming off her best season and is growing as a more vocal leader this preseason.