In its last battles of the season, the Cornell women’s volleyball team looks to upset the Princeton Tigers on Friday and continue its winning streak against the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“We will have to be prepared and execute in the match but play with heart and for each other,” said head coach Trudy VandeBerg, on playing the Tigers (17-4, 11-1 Ivy). “They don’t make many mistakes and are good in all of their positions, so we will have to do the same.”
The Tigers have architected a near-flawless season and will present quite a challenge for the Red (11-11, 5-7) in its season-closer. Nevertheless, freshman setter Katie Randolph is confident in her team’s ability to stick to the plan and execute on Friday.
“Princeton has done really well, but we put a lot of effort into scouting other teams,” Randolph said. “If we scout well and execute our game plan I think we will be able to handle them.”
The Quakers (10-14, 5-7) present a different challenge for the Red.
“Penn has the complete opposite style of play than Princeton,” VandeBerg said. “They are scrappy, disciplined and really go after your weaknesses.”
Staying within itself will be essential in the team’s last two games.
“We just want to focus on our side of the net,” Randolph said. “No matter who we play our goal is to play the best volleyball we can, which will help us win.”
Regardless of what happens this weekend, this season has been one of the most successful campaigns for the Red since 2008.
“They have done so many great things this year,” VandeBerg said. “We want to end on a high note not only for our seniors but to continue the momentum into our spring season and fall of 2017.”