POWER HITTER: Princeton High girls’ volleyball player Gillian Hauschild leaps up for a hit in a match last year. Junior standout Hauschild’s versatility and production has helped PHS get off to a solid 8-2 start this fall. In upcoming action, the Little Tigers host WW/P-North on September 27 before playing at WW/P-South on September 28 and at Lawrenceville on October 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

After turning heads with a stellar 31-2 campaign in 2017, the Princeton High girls’ volleyball team is looking to prove that success wasn’t a fluke as it has taken the court this fall.

“We lost a couple of seniors but that just meant that we had to change things around a little bit,” said PHS head coach Patty Manhart, noting that the team is running a new offensive formation.

“We still had a really solid core of girls coming back. Everyone knew that we wanted to keep up the intensity and build on last year. The girls came ready to make those adjustments to stay just as strong.”

So far this fall, the Little Tigers have kept up their winning ways prevailing in eight of their first nine matches before falling 2-0 to Moorestown 2-0 last Monday.

The play of versatile junior Gillian Hauschild has been a major strength for PHS as she leads the team in kills and is second in assists.

“We are running a 6-2, so Gillian sets when she is in the back row, which has been really important,” said Manhart.

“When she gets up to the front row, then she goes back to hitting which she is used to. That was a little bit of a change this year, but she has adjusted really well to that position.”

Another junior, Gwen Matsukawa, has adjusted well to moving up to the varsity level.

“Gwen was on JV last year so after Rachel Cheng graduated we were looking for a setter, so she and Gillian share that setting responsibility,” said Manhart. “Gwen put in a lot of work over the offseason to be ready to be a varsity athlete and she has been doing really well.”

Along the front row, junior Kim Cheng has emerged as a force.

“Kim has been a varsity player since her freshman year; she is one of our power hitters now that we lost Anna Cao,” said Manhart. “Kim can play all around. She plays really great defense. She is a strong server so she has been a really key part of the team too.”

A pair of seniors, Natalia Drobnjak and Viva Bell, are also key pieces of the puzzle for the Little Tigers.

“Natalia is a libero, so her main job is defense; she leads the team in digs and she has a really great jump serve,” said Manhart. “Viva Bell didn’t get a lot of playing time last year. Now she is a starting outside. She is a really consistent player. She is solid, fills in nicely.”

While Manhart is happy with how PHS has started, she is looking for more consistency going forward.

“We will have our highs and lows,” said Manhart, whose team hosts WW/P-North on September 27 before playing at WW/P-South on September 28 and at Lawrenceville on October 1.

“I think more time on the court will help us get stronger and be a little more little productive on attack. We tend to have a really high attempts rate and a lower kills rate. We want to look at being more productive hitting. When we start getting into the more competitive part of our season and the postseason, we need to make sure we are productive.”