Princeton Readies For First Ivy Road Trip At Brown & Yale, Will Look To Break Drought In New Haven

Friday, September 29

Providence, R.I.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Brown

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Princeton Readies For First Ivy Road Trip At Brown & Yale, Will Look To Break Drought In New Haven

September 27, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

LIVE VIDEO STREAM: Brown l Yale
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It's probably too early for a true statement weekend in Ivy League volleyball — but it's safe to call this an important one.

Princeton (8-3, 1-0 Ivy) makes its first Ivy road trip this weekend, with both matches set to be streamed live on the Ivy League Network. The Tigers will open in Providence against Brown (5-7, 0-1), and then they'll make the trip to New Haven for a showdown with Yale (7-3, 1-0).

The Tigers, who opened their Ivy season last Friday with an impressive home sweep of Yale, have put together one of the most balanced efforts in the league. They rank in the top half of the league in almost every statistical category, and they have the Ivy individual leader in kills and points (Natasha Skov), as well as assists (Jessie Harris).

Skov, in her first year as a starter, leads the league with 4.07, while classmate Maggie O'Connell is second with 3.89 kills. Junior middle Caroline Sklaver, another new starter for the two-time reigning Ivy champion, gives the Tigers three in the Top 10 with 3.13 per set.

Princeton has been stout defensively as well. Senior co-captain Maddie Huber is second in the Ivy League with 4.49 digs/set, while junior Nnenna Ibe is seventh in blocks with 1.03/set.

Brown dropped its Ivy opener 3-0 at Yale, though two of the three sets were highly competitive. Like Princeton, the Bears have a top 1-2 defensive punch in Jacqueline Jacobs (1.3 blocks) and Melissa Cairo (3.72 digs).

Saturday's showdown in New Haven will draw plenty of interest, as Princeton and Yale bring the best overall records into the weekend, and they were the top teams in the league last season. Yale handed the Tigers' their only loss of the 2016 Ivy season, a 3-2 thriller in New Haven; that was Princeton's ninth straight loss at Yale, which has won 17 straight and 54 of its last 55 Ivy home matches.

Junior Kelley Wirth has been Yale's go-to hitter this season; she is averaging 3.89 points per set, and she had 12 in the five-set win over the Tigers last season. O'Connell, who would go on to become Princeton's sixth Ivy League Rookie of the Year at the end of the season, was spectacular in that match; she has 21 kills and hit .395 in her first match in New Haven.