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Princeton University Athletics
Friday, October 21
Princeton, N.J.
7:00 PM
Princeton University
vs
Penn
Players Mentioned
S
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Volleyball Looks To Maintain Ivy Control Friday; Mattaliano Draws Closer To Milestone
October 20, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Princeton has put together a historic stretch of volleyball — both over the last month and over the last 52 weeks — but head coach Sabrina King is confident her team won't alter its focus as it opens play for the second half of the Ivy League season.
After all, these Tigers know as well as anybody how quickly things change.
One year ago this week, Princeton was coming off a loss at Yale and trailed Dartmouth by three matches in the league standings with only seven to play. The deficit likely seemed insurmountable at the time, so the Tigers just worried about the next match and let the rest of things take care of themselves. That was 14 Ivy League matches ago.
The Tigers haven't lost any of them. Princeton won the final seven last season to clinch a share of the league title, and it has won the first seven this season to claim first place at the midway point of the 2016 Ivy schedule. The Tigers' lead is two matches over both Yale and Columbia, one match less than the deficit it trailed Dartmouth last year.
Yes, there is still plenty of work to do. It starts Friday night in Dillon Gym ( 7 pm, Ivy League Digital Network) when Princeton hosts Penn, the last team to take a set off the Tigers; the Quakers pushed Princeton to five in the Ivy opener at the Palestra, but Brittany Ptak had 21 kills to lead the Tigers to a five-set thriller.
Princeton would take a win in three, four or five sets Friday night. After all, they know the blueprint for a second-half comeback has been created, and they know that no lead is safe in this league.
Time to go back to work.
Alone At The Top
Princeton enters the weekend in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League with a 7-0 record. Both Columbia and Yale have 5-2 marks, while every other team in the league has at least four losses. Of course, Princeton had four league losses at this exact moment last season, and it won its final seven to share the Ivy title.
Streaking
Dating back to a 3-2 win over the host Hoyas to conclude the Georgetown Classic, Princeton has won 11 straight matches. That is the longest win streak for the program since the Ivy champion 2007 Tigers won 20 straight matches, including all 14 in Ivy play. If Princeton defeats Penn, it would mark the program's second-longest win streak this century.
Set It Up
Penn won the fourth set of the Sept. 24 match at the Palestra. Since then, the Tigers have won 19 straight sets, the most in the program since the 1997 season, when current head coach Sabrina King was a freshman on the team.
Senior Citizens
Princeton senior co-captains Cara Mattaliano and Brittany Ptak have both earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors since the Tigers began Ivy play four weeks ago. Ptak was brilliant in a 3-2 road win at Penn (21 kills, .625 hitting percentage), while Mattaliano won back-to-back honors following a brilliant two-week stretch in which she has averaged 3.8 kills, 4.4 digs, .6 service aces and hit .264.
Kills Countdown
Cara Mattaliano, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, needs 11 kills Friday to become the 13th player in Princeton history to record more than 1,000 kills. One of those Tigers in the 1000-kill club is head coach Sabrina King, another former Ivy League Player of the Year who capped her career with 1,367 kills and three league titles.
Fresh Faces
Princeton freshmen Jessie Harris, Maggie O'Connell and Devon Peterkin have all earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors this season; in fact, each of them has won the honor once in the last three weeks alone. Peterkin is a two-time honoree, including once after the Tigers' home sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth three weeks ago. Harris took Rookie of the Week honors after pacing the Tiger offense with 69 assists and five kills in road wins at Columbia and Cornell. O'Connell, who also won it after being named MVP of the Rutgers Tournament, is the reigning Rookie of the Week after a highly efficient performance in back-to-back win over Brown and Yale. She recorded at least 12 kills in both, she moved to second in the league in hitting percentage (.392), and she added four digs and four blocks during the weekend.
High Efficiency
Princeton leads the Ivy League and ranks 22nd in the NCAA with a .266 hitting percentage. Three Tigers (Maggie O'Connell, Brittany Ptak and Nnenna Ibe) rank 2-3-5 respectively in the league in individual hitting percentage.
After all, these Tigers know as well as anybody how quickly things change.
One year ago this week, Princeton was coming off a loss at Yale and trailed Dartmouth by three matches in the league standings with only seven to play. The deficit likely seemed insurmountable at the time, so the Tigers just worried about the next match and let the rest of things take care of themselves. That was 14 Ivy League matches ago.
The Tigers haven't lost any of them. Princeton won the final seven last season to clinch a share of the league title, and it has won the first seven this season to claim first place at the midway point of the 2016 Ivy schedule. The Tigers' lead is two matches over both Yale and Columbia, one match less than the deficit it trailed Dartmouth last year.
Yes, there is still plenty of work to do. It starts Friday night in Dillon Gym ( 7 pm, Ivy League Digital Network) when Princeton hosts Penn, the last team to take a set off the Tigers; the Quakers pushed Princeton to five in the Ivy opener at the Palestra, but Brittany Ptak had 21 kills to lead the Tigers to a five-set thriller.
Princeton would take a win in three, four or five sets Friday night. After all, they know the blueprint for a second-half comeback has been created, and they know that no lead is safe in this league.
Time to go back to work.
| Schedule | Oct. 21, 2016 • 7 pm • Dillon Gym |
| Follow Live | Video: Ivy League Digital Network l Live Stats |
| @PUTigers l @PUTigers_Live l @PrincetonVolley | |
| Princeton | Roster l Schedule l Statistics |
| Penn | Roster l Schedule l Statistics |
| Ivy League | Standings l Statistics l Weekly Releases |
| Next Week | Princeton at Dartmouth, Oct. 28, 5 pm l Princeton at Harvard, Oct. 29, 5 pm |
Alone At The Top
Princeton enters the weekend in sole possession of first place in the Ivy League with a 7-0 record. Both Columbia and Yale have 5-2 marks, while every other team in the league has at least four losses. Of course, Princeton had four league losses at this exact moment last season, and it won its final seven to share the Ivy title.
Streaking
Dating back to a 3-2 win over the host Hoyas to conclude the Georgetown Classic, Princeton has won 11 straight matches. That is the longest win streak for the program since the Ivy champion 2007 Tigers won 20 straight matches, including all 14 in Ivy play. If Princeton defeats Penn, it would mark the program's second-longest win streak this century.
Set It Up
Penn won the fourth set of the Sept. 24 match at the Palestra. Since then, the Tigers have won 19 straight sets, the most in the program since the 1997 season, when current head coach Sabrina King was a freshman on the team.
Senior Citizens
Princeton senior co-captains Cara Mattaliano and Brittany Ptak have both earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors since the Tigers began Ivy play four weeks ago. Ptak was brilliant in a 3-2 road win at Penn (21 kills, .625 hitting percentage), while Mattaliano won back-to-back honors following a brilliant two-week stretch in which she has averaged 3.8 kills, 4.4 digs, .6 service aces and hit .264.
Kills Countdown
Cara Mattaliano, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, needs 11 kills Friday to become the 13th player in Princeton history to record more than 1,000 kills. One of those Tigers in the 1000-kill club is head coach Sabrina King, another former Ivy League Player of the Year who capped her career with 1,367 kills and three league titles.
Fresh Faces
Princeton freshmen Jessie Harris, Maggie O'Connell and Devon Peterkin have all earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors this season; in fact, each of them has won the honor once in the last three weeks alone. Peterkin is a two-time honoree, including once after the Tigers' home sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth three weeks ago. Harris took Rookie of the Week honors after pacing the Tiger offense with 69 assists and five kills in road wins at Columbia and Cornell. O'Connell, who also won it after being named MVP of the Rutgers Tournament, is the reigning Rookie of the Week after a highly efficient performance in back-to-back win over Brown and Yale. She recorded at least 12 kills in both, she moved to second in the league in hitting percentage (.392), and she added four digs and four blocks during the weekend.
High Efficiency
Princeton leads the Ivy League and ranks 22nd in the NCAA with a .266 hitting percentage. Three Tigers (Maggie O'Connell, Brittany Ptak and Nnenna Ibe) rank 2-3-5 respectively in the league in individual hitting percentage.
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