Princeton Wins Ivy Title Rematch Over Yale In Front Of Packed Dillon Crowd

Saturday, September 29

Princeton, N.J.

5:00 PM

Princeton University

10-4, 3-0Ivy

Yale

8-4, 2-1Ivy

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Yale	23	23	25	14	1
Princeton	25	25	22	25	3

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Princeton Wins Ivy Title Rematch Over Yale In Front Of Packed Dillon Crowd

September 29, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Princeton has come up with the goods when the competition has demanded it time and again this season, and the Tigers had another top effort in their biggest match so far in 2018. Facing Yale, the team it defeated in the 2017 Ivy League playoff match and the only other team to receive first-place votes in the Ivy preseason poll, Princeton pulled out a pair of early nail-biters and ran away in the fourth set of a 3-1 victory.

The win moves Princeton to 3-0 in the Ivy League, which gives the Tigers a share of first place with Cornell through two weeks.

Reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Maggie O'Connell had one of the best performances of her junior season, killing a match-high 21 balls while hitting .441. Princeton's top three hitters — O'Connell, Clare Lenihan, and Devon Peterkin — combined for 52 of the Tigers' 67 kills in the victory. Junior setter Jessie Harris paced an offense that hit .315 with 59 assists, and she also shared the team lead in digs (19) with freshman libero Cameron Dames. Peterkin recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs, while senior middle Caroline Sklaver killed seven of 10 balls for a .700 attack percentage.

Princeton trailed 22-20 in the opening set, but won five of the final six points to grab a 1-0 lead. The second set featured a 9-0 Tiger run that provided enough insurance to fight off a late Bulldog run. That surge pushed Yale to a win in the third set, but Princeton bounced back in impressive fashion in the fourth. The Tigers opened by winning eight of the first nine points, a run ending with an Alexa Underwood kill, and they never looked back in a 25-14 victory.

Princeton and Yale stayed within two matches of each other throughout the 2017 season, and there is little reason to expect that both programs won't stay in the championship race this fall. The rematch between the two programs will take place Oct. 26 at Yale, and it will be nationally televised live on ESPNU.

Princeton will now head on the road for a pair of matches at Dartmouth (Friday, 7) and Harvard (Saturday, 5).