Softball Team Set to Open 2026 Season This Weekend in Florida

Friday, February 13

Jacksonville, Fla.

11:00 AM

Princeton University

Stony Brook

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Softball Team Set to Open 2026 Season This Weekend in Florida

February 10, 2026 | Softball

The four-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton softball team will open its 2026 campaign this weekend in Florida at an event co-hosted by Jacksonville and North Florida.

Princeton's schedule for the weekend:
Friday, Feb. 13 at Jacksonville | Live Scoring
11 a.m. vs. Stony Brook
4 p.m. at Jacksonville
Saturday, Feb. 14 at North Florida | Live Scoring
3 p.m. vs. Stony Brook
5 p.m. at North Florida
Sunday, Feb. 15 at North Florida | Live Scoring
10 a.m. vs. Iona

The Ivy title run: Princeton has won the last four Ivy League titles, which are decided on regular-season play, and has hosted the last four Ivy League postseasons, including the 2022 Ivy League Playoff Series (winning two of three from Harvard), the 2023 Ivy League Tournament (made final, which Harvard won), the 2024 Ivy League Tournament (won), and the 2025 Ivy League Tournament (made final, which Brown won). Only one other time in Ivy League history has a team won at least four Ivy League titles in a row, and that was Princeton as well, which won seven straight from 1983-89.

Series histories: Princeton has previously faced only two of its four opponents this weekend. Against Iona, Princeton won both of the series' meetings, which took place in 2011 and 2012, and against North Florida, the Ospreys have won five of the six meetings, all of which took place between 2013 and 2022.

Who's back: Reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Brielle Wright is back for her senior season, leading five of the team's six 2025 first-team All-Ivy honorees who return, including Sonia Zhang (3B), Julia Dumais (SS), Braeden Hale (utility) and Karis Ford (DP). Second-team pitcher Cassidy Shaw is back, as is honorable mention Graciela Dominguez (2B) giving Princeton seven returning 2025 All-Ivy Leaguers. Graduated from Princeton's 2025 all-league honorees are outfielder Allison Ha, a four-time All-Ivy Leaguer, three-time All-Ivy outfielder Lauren Sablone, 2025 honorable mention All-Ivy catcher Lauren Pappert. Along with Wright and Shaw, who accounted for 235 2/3 of the team's 301 1/3 innings pitched, Princeton returns sophomore Keala Hollenkamp, who was third on the team with 43 2/3 innings pitched.

Coaching staff: Princeton head coach Lisa Van Ackeren enters her 14th season at Princeton and is the dean of the current Ivy League coaches. All-time, Van Ackeren is the second-winningest coach in program history and sixth-winningest head coach in Ivy League history, at 253 wins. She could become the fifth-winningest coach in league history this season, with former Brown coach Phil Pincince currently in that spot with 269 wins. The top four, all former coaches in the league, are Harvard's Jenny Allard (688), Cornell's Dick Blood (623), Princeton's Cindy Cohen (559) and Penn's Leslie King (354). Princeton has won six of the nine Ivy League Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year honors since the award was inaugurated in 2015, including 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (no award in 2020 or 2021). Assistant coach Alyssa Davis is entering her seventh season, Ashley McDonald her second, and Nicole Arias her 12th.

Newcomers: Five Tigers join the team this year, all first-years including infielder/utility player Mia Valenzuela, catcher/infielder Maddie Ratcheson, outfielder Lola Coole, infielder Camryn Bradshaw, and pitcher Reece Uehara.

Next up: Princeton will head to North Carolina for five games against three opponents next weekend, including the host Tar Heels, Appalachian State and Rider.