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2016 Women's Volleyball Roster
Cara Mattaliano
- Position:
- Outside Hitter
- Height:
- 6-1
- Class:
- Senior
- High School:
- Benet Academy
- Hometown:
- Glen Ellyn, Ill.
At Princeton — 2016: became the first player in Princeton history to earn Ivy League Volleyball Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons; she was the unanimous winner after leading Princeton to its 16th Ivy League title; named first-team All-Ivy League for the third time in her career … earned All-Region distinction … led the Ivy League in kills (3.75); the margin between her and second-ranked Brittani Steinberg of Yale (3.17) was greater than the margin between Steinberg and the Ivy's 10th-ranked player in kills … also ranked seventh in the Ivy League in digs (3.48), and was one of only two players to rank in the Top 10 in both categories … recorded 11 kills and 14 digs in NCAA tournament debut against #10 BYU … recorded double-digit kills in 16 of her final 17 matches, including a 21-kill effort in Princeton's Ivy-clinching 3-2 comeback win over Cornell … became the 13th player in Princeton history to record more than 1,000 career kills, and finished 11th with 1,112 … became sixth player in program history with more than 1,000 digs, and finished sixth all-time with 1,086 … recorded career-high 24 kills in a five-set loss at Yale; one week later, she recorded 21 kills and nine digs in Ivy-clinching win over Cornell … team co-captain. 2015: named the Ivy League Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League honoree after leading Princeton to the Ivy League title; Tigers became the first team in league history to win the title after an 0-3 start … ranked third in the Ivy League in kills and second in kills/set during league play … also averaged 3.84 digs in league play, seventh-best in Ivy play; no other hitter was inside the Top 10 … earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors during three of the final four weeks of the regular season … had 21 kills, 25 digs, three aces and a block in championship-clinching win over Columbia … had double-digit kills in 18 matches, including each of Princeton's last eight; during final eight matches, seven had at least 15 kills … recorded 22 kills, 13 digs in Ivy playoff at Harvard … had 16 double-digit dig matches, including career-best 27 in win at Brown. 2014: ranked third on the team with 235 kills … averaged 2.53 kills per set … recorded a season-high 19 kills in 3-2 victory over Delaware … had double-digit kills in 15 matches … averaged 3.15 digs per set, including career-best 23 in late-season matches against both Harvard and Yale … recorded 21 assists and 22 service aces … had three blocks in home win over Brown … recorded 26 kills with only three errors in home-weekend sweep of Cornell and Columbia. 2013: earned first-team All-Ivy League honors after ranking second in the league in kills (3.35) and third in points (3.82) … twice named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, with both coming during the Ivy League season … started 18 matches, including final 12 of the season, and played in 78 sets … had back-to-back 19-kill matches in home sweep of Cornell and Columbia, which earned one of the two Rookie of the Week honors … had season best 21 kills in 3-2 road win at Dartmouth … had 12 matches with double-digit digs, including season best 22 against USC-Upstate … recorded season high four aces against Yale; other season highs included three blocks (Dartmouth) and two assists (six times).
Before Princeton — led the Benet Academy to the 2011 and 2012 Illinois 4A state championships … set the single-season record for kills at Benet … earned all-state, all-area and all-conference emails … named MVP of both the 2012 state semifinal and state final by the Chicago Tribune; tied the state championship record with 21 kills in the 2012 final … named PrepVolleyball.com Academic All-America honoree … voted Team Leader and Offensive Player of the Year … three-time all-tournament team selection … named All-America at AAU National Tournament … member of the National Honor Society.
"I loved the overall community and atmosphere at Princeton. I was looking for a school with strong academics and athletics."
Personal — born Oct. 11, 1994 … daughter of Al and Molly Mattaliano … father works in private equity; mother is a homemaker … has two sisters, Val and Emily … Val played volleyball at Boston College … enjoys travel, music and reading.
