Women’s Volleyball Earns Saturday Sweep of Niagara & Bucknell

Saturday, September 2

Lewisburg, Pa.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

1-0,0-0Ivy League

Niagara

0-5,0-0MAAC

Princeton

Niagara

Women’s Volleyball Earns Saturday Sweep of Niagara & Bucknell

September 02, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Princeton University women's volleyball team opened the 2023 season with a sweep of Niagara and Bucknell at the Bucknell Invitational Saturday inside Davis Gym. The Tigers first took down the Purple Eagles, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-20), then followed with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-11) victory over the Bison.

Sophomore Lucia Scalamandre and freshman Sydney Draper led the way for Princeton and were named to the All-Tournament Team. Scalamandre, the 2022 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, picked up where she left off last season leading the Tigers in kills with 21 on a .594 hitting percentage and blocks with eight. Draper led Princeton in assists with 66 and tied for the team-high in digs with freshmen Sydney Bold with 21. Draper also recorded double-doubles in both matches, finishing with 37 assists and 11 digs against Niagara and 29 assists and 10 digs against Bucknell. Sophomore Ella Bunde's two service aces also led the team in that category.

Sophomore Valerie Nutakor also impressed for the Tigers, combing for 18 kills and 14 digs, and junior Shelby Fulton tied her career-high in kills with eight against the Purple Eagles

The Tigers hit an impressive .352 across both matches and limited their opponents to a hitting percentage of .118. Princeton put down 90 kills to Niagara and Bucknell's 37 and also did not commit a ball handling error in either match. The Tiger also recorded 13 blocks to their opponents five.

Princeton vs. Niagara
While the Purple Eagles raced out to a 4-1 lead, a Scalamandre kill led off a 3-0 run that saw the Tigers tie it up at 4-4. A double block by junior Mariah Haislip and senior Maya Satchell gave Princeton its first lead at 10-9 and the Tigers would not look back from there; a 3-0 run featuring a Fulton kill, a Bunde service ace and a Satchell kill gave Princeton a 14-11 advantage. With the Tigers up 17-14 a Nutakor kill ignited a 4-0 run that put the Tigers up 21-14, from there the Tigers held on to win the first set 25-18.

The Tigers got off to a strong start in the second set, using a 4-0 run sparked by a Haislip kill to take a 13-7 lead. Princeton would extend its lead to seven, 17-10, after another 4-0 run, this time ignited by a Fulton kill then prevail in the, 25-15, with set point coming on a Nutakor service ace.

Niagara showed resilience in the third set, jumping out to a 7-1 lead after a 6-0 run. An emphatic kill by Fulton led a 6-0 run by Princeton, which led to a stalemate at 7-7. The set became a back-and-forth battle until kills by Fulton, freshman Kamryn Chaney and a Purple Eagle attacking error saw the Tigers take a three-point lead at 14-11. Niagara kept it close, battling back to tie the score at 20-20, but Princeton would close the match out with a 5-0 run led off by a Haislip kill. Match point came on Scalamandre's 10th kill, giving the Tigers the 25-20 final.

Princeton vs. Bucknell
The first set began as a back-and-forth battle; with the score tied, 11-11, a Satchell kill ignited a 4-0 run that put the Tigers ahead 15-11. Back-to-back kills by Fulton and Nutakor saw Princeton extend its lead to six at 22-16 before a kill by Satchell sealed the set for the Tigers with a final score of 25-18.

With help from a Scalamandre block, kills from Fulton and Satchell and a bad set by the Bison, Princeton took an early 4-1 lead in the second set. Bucknell responded with a pair of 3-0 runs, jumping ahead 7-5. The Tigers and Bison continued to play to a stalemate, until a service ace by Bunde capped a 3-0 run and gave Princeton a 16-15 lead. Shortly after, a pair of 3-0 runs, including one on which the Tigers would close out the set, saw Princeton go up 2-0 in the match after consecutive Chaney kills gave Princeton the 25-20 win.

The Tigers exerted their dominance early in the third set, opening it on a 4-0 run. Three-straight kills by Chaney put Princeton up, 7-1, then a 6-0 run capped by a Nutakor kill saw the Tigers go up 14-3. Fittingly, it was Scalamandre who put down the kill on match point to give Princeton the 25-11 victory in the set and the 3-0 win in the match,

Up Next
Princeton hosts Santa Clara (5-0) in its home opener on Sept. 4 inside Dillon Gymnasium at 7 p.m.