SET UP FOR SUCCESS: Princeton University women’s volleyball player Sydney Draper sets the ball in recent action. Last Saturday, sophomore star Draper tallied seven kills and 31 assists in a losing cause as top-seeded Princeton fell 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-20) to second-seeded Yale in the final of the Ivy League Tournament at Dillon Gym. The Tigers ended the fall with a final record of 15-11 as they rebounded from a shaky 4-9 start. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Justin Feil

Twice this year the Princeton University women’s volleyball team fell at home to Yale.

The second time came in the Tigers’ 3-0 loss (27-25, 25-23, 25-20) to the Bulldogs last Saturday at Dillon Gym and it hurt far worse than their 3-1 defeat back on October 5.

This time, it came in the Ivy League Tournament championship and the loss ended Princeton’s season that had come on so strongly down the stretch.

“I’m really proud of them,” said Princeton head coach Sabrina King.“We had a really great season. There’s nothing I can say and make them feel better at that moment.”

If there was a silver lining to the loss, it’s that only three of the Tigers players won’t be back. The three seniors — Gracie Wood, Shelby Fulton, and Mariah Haislip — are the lone Tigers who will graduate from this year’s team that finished 15-11 overall, and put together a 12-2 Ivy record to capture a share of the league’s regular season championship with Yale. Most of Princeton’s strength lies in its younger players. Kamryn Chaney, who was Ivy League Player of the Year, is a sophomore. Three other players were named second team All-Ivy. Lucia Scalamandre still has a year left, Sydney Draper has another two years to go, and Jackie Onyechi is only a freshman.

“We knew that that sophomore class was going to be the core of what we did this year,” said King. “And a lot of things were learned here, so they’re just building experience and every kind of loss like this, they can take it with them and hopefully build from it.”

Experience may have been an issue for the Tigers who couldn’t get over the hump against Yale three weeks after upending the Bulldogs in New Haven, Conn. That road win was one of the biggest of the year for the Tigers, who looked transformed over the second half of the season. Princeton was 2-2 in Ivy play and 4-9 overall after their first home loss to Yale, and didn’t lose again in Ivy play, ripping off 10 straight down the stretch with a non-conference loss to Marquette the only blemish overall.

“We just started playing with a lot of confidence,” said King.

“I think we knew we had the talent, but we just weren’t playing with that kind of confidence and swagger. And you saw the cracks tonight of just doubt in ourselves again. And volleyball is like that. If you can throw doubt into anybody else’s head, then you have an advantage. And so we were on the receiving end of that, and I give a lot of credit to Yale. They’re a great team. They planted the seeds of doubt and we let them grow.”

Top-seeded Princeton repeatedly played from behind Saturday, and second-seeded Yale repeatedly made the biggest plays down the stretch. The first game set was a thriller with Princeton rallying from a 22-20 deficit to come back to take set point at 25-24. Yale won the next three points to take the first set, 27-25.

Princeton trailed in the second set, 16-11, early but fought back to make it 22-22. The Tigers were down a point when a close call in the back corner gave Yale a two-point edge and they went on to a 25-23 win. Princeton clawed back from a 17-14 deficit to tie it 19-19 in the third game before a 6-1 run ended the match in Yale’s favor.

“We’re usually pretty good from behind, but it just felt like every time we did have a good pass, it felt like it had to be a kill because Yale doesn’t make errors so you’re not going to get a bunch of free points,” said King. “So we had to be really, really efficient when we were in system and I think that’s where we kind of fell down is our in-system play.”

Chaney finished with 13 kills against the Bulldogs and Draper had 31 assists to go with seven kills. Tiger sophomore Sydney Bold led all players with 13 digs. This was the first time in three seasons of the Ivy tournament that the Tigers earned the right to host. Princeton won the tiebreaker over Yale by virtue of the best record against the next highest finishing team, third-place Cornell whom Princeton swept in the regular season.

“That’s huge it was an exciting turn of events the last weekend,” said King. “And so having a piece of the championship is always an awesome thing. And it’s interesting because two years ago it would have been all we wanted. It didn’t even matter — the Ivy League Tournament. But everything has changed in the last two years, and of course we want the Ivy League championship, but we really want to represent our league in NCAAs and we didn’t get to do that this year, but I think we’ll be back next year.”

The Tigers can take away knowing the things that helped to turn them around this year, and put together such a strong run down to the end. Princeton blew by fourth-seeded Brown, 3-0 (25-21, 25-10, 25-16) in Friday’s semifinal to reach the Ivy Tournament final, and fell Saturday just one step short of their ultimate goal of the tournament win.

“A little bit of perspective from the first day that we stepped in this gym and you work out together in preseason, do fitness testing, it’s every single day we show up for each other and that’s the most important thing,” said King. “And it’s built something really special this season. We’re really sad to see it end, but it’s going to be brought up again.”

Princeton can relish how it developed over this season with such a young team. Their biggest contributors on the court will be back, and they will come back hungrier to improve on the issues that cost them in their final loss.

“They’re ready for a break and I think that they deserve that break and I’ll give them a couple of weeks,” said King. “We won’t start training again until the new year and that’s when we can really focus on a lot of the stuff that is hard to focus on during the season.”

With so much talent returning, Princeton will have a target on their backs next year. They don’t have to fix a lot. The Tigers will be looking to host the Ivy tourney again and this time to celebrate on their home court.

“Absolutely,” said King. “I know we can do it.”