Women's Volleyball

Volleyball Playoff to Determine League's NCAA Berth Saturday

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton sophomore right-side hitter Maggie O’Connell, Dartmouth freshman outside hitter Mallen Bischoff and Yale freshman outside hitter Kathryn Attar earned the League’s weekly honors to close out the regular-season. Ivy League champions Princeton and Yale will meet in the Ivy League Volleyball Playoff at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, in New Haven, Conn., to determine the League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. 

LEAGUE NOTES
  • Ivy League co-champions Princeton and Yale will face off in an Ivy League Volleyball Playoff at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, in New Haven, Conn., to determine the League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The match will be broadcast on the Ivy League Network and will be available for free.
  • Princeton clinched a share of its third-straight Ivy League title with an emphatic 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) victory at Harvard on Nov. 10.
  • Yale claimed its first Ivy crown since a string of five-straight from 2010-14 with a 3-2 (25-17, 28-30, 31-33, 25-19, 15-8) win at Columbia on Nov. 11.
  • The Ivy League’s automatic berth has been determined via playoff on five prior occasions, with Yale winning two (2004, 2014) of the three its competed in.
  • For the second-straight year, the Ivy League boasts a .500-or-better non-conference winning percentage. The League is 42-33 (.560) against non-conference opposition this season, after going 41-40 (.506) a year ago.  
  • Columbia right-side hitter Anja Malesevic paces the Ancient Eight in kills (4.22) and points (4.77) per set. The senior has had 25-or-more kills in five of her last seven matches.
  • Seven Ivies hit .300-or-better during the regular-season, led by Columbia sophomore middle blocker Chichi Ikwuazom (.387). Ikwuazom also paced the Ancient Eight with 1.34 blocks per set. Nationally, Ikwuazom sits 33rd in hitting percentage and 30th in blocks per set.
  • Harvard sophomore setter Erin McCarthy (956) paces the League in assists, while Penn freshman outside hitter Parker Jones tops the conference in kills (318) and points (358.5).
  • The Big Red of Cornell continue to claim a pair of category leaders in sophomore middle blocker Jenna Phelps and senior libero Kiley McPeek. Phelps averages .47 service aces per set to rank sixth nationally, while McPeek registers 5.08 digs per set to sit 31st in NCAA Division I.  
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, Nov. 18
Ivy League Volleyball Playoff
Princeton at Yale, 7 p.m. [ILN]  
 
KEY
ILN – Broadcast on the Ivy League Network, now available on Apple TV and Roku

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Princeton’s leader in kills—sophomore right-side hitter Maggie O’Connell—earns her first career Player of the Week nod after helping the Tigers clinch a share of their third-straight Ivy League title.
 
The Katy, Texas, product hit .359 with 32 kills as Princeton split matches at Harvard (W, 3-0) and Dartmouth (L, 3-2). O’Connell hit .500 with 18 kills in a 3-0 sweep at Harvard, where the Tigers clinched a share of the Ivy title, and tallied 14 kills in a five-set thriller at Dartmouth. She also added seven digs, three blocks and an assist on the weekend. O’Connell owns 279 kills and a .283 hitting percentage on the season.
 
O’Connell gives Princeton five different Player of the Week selections this season, joining teammates Natasha Skov (Sept. 11), Jessie Harris (Oct. 2), Nnenna Ibe (Oct. 9) and Caroline Sklaver (Nov. 6).
 
O’Connell’s Statistics for the Week  
2 MP, 8 Sets, 32 K, .359 Hitting %, 1 A, 7 Digs, 3 TB, 33.5 Pts.
 
CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Dartmouth freshman outside hitter Mallen Bischoff hit .354 to lift the Big Green to a weekend sweep of Penn (W, 3-0) and Princeton (W, 3-2) for the first time since 2006.
 
The San Francisco, Calif., native registered back-to-back double-digit kill performances. She hit .394 with 15 kills vs. Penn and .313 with 14 kills vs. Princeton. She also added 17 digs, four blocks and two assists.
 
Bischoff is Dartmouth’s second Rookie of the Week honoree this season—joining Olympia Nagel-Caland (Sept. 25), who snapped a nearly four-year drought for the Big Green.

Bischoff’s Statistics for the Week 
2 MP, 8 Sets, 29 K, .354 Hitting %, 2 A, 17 Digs, 4 TB, 32.5 Pts.
 
CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Yale’s leader in kills—freshman outside hitter Kathryn Attar—garners her third Rookie of the Week nod after propelling the Bulldogs to a share of their sixth Ivy League title over the past eight seasons.
 
The Tampa, Fla., product hit .283 with 37 kills as Yale split matches at Cornell (L, 3-0) and Columbia (W, 3-2). In the pivotal match at Columbia, Attar hit .361 with a career-high 28 kills—nine kills better than her previous high-water mark. The freshman had 5-of-9 Bulldog kills in the decisive fifth set to force an Ivy League Volleyball Playoff between Princeton and Yale. The Bulldogs will host the playoff at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18.
 
Attar becomes the second Ivy League freshman to garner three Rookie of the Week awards (Oct. 2, Oct. 9) this season, joining Penn’s Parker Jones.
 
Attar’s Statistics for the Week 
2 MP, 8 Sets, 37 K, .283 Hitting %, 1 A, 1 SA, 22 Digs, 2 TB, 39.5 Pts.
 
HONOR ROLL
Audrey Cheng, Columbia (Fr., S – Superior, Colo.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 4 K, .250 Hitting %, 92 A, 19 Digs, 3 TB, 5.5 Pts.
 
Anja Malesevic, Columbia (Sr., RS – Belgrade, Serbia)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 50 K, .207 Hitting %, 5 SA, 28 Digs, 3 TB, 56.5 Pts.
 
Zoe Chamness, Cornell (Fr., S – Eugene, Ore.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 53 A, 1 SA, 21 Digs, 1 TB, 1.5 Pts.
 
Kit McCarty, Cornell (Sr., RS – Hudson, Ohio)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 29 K, .296 Hitting %, 3 Digs, 4 TB, 31.0 Pts.
 
Kiley McPeek, Cornell (Sr., L – Deer Park, Ill.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 5 A, 3 SA, 55 Digs, 3.0 Pts.
 
Tori Dozier, Dartmouth (So., S – Raleigh, N.C.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 8 K, .227 Hitting %, 83 A, 19 Digs, 8, 12.0 Pts.
 
Christina Cornelius, Harvard (Jr., MB – Los Angeles, Calif.)
2 MP, 7 Sets, 26 K, .274 Hitting %, 3 A, 1 SA, 13 Digs, 4 TB, 29.0 Pts.
 
Mindie Mabry, Harvard (Fr., OH – Fort Myers, Fla.)
2 MP, 5 Sets, 15 K, .302 Hitting %, 1 SA, 7 Digs, 1 TB, 16.5 Pts.
 
Tristin Kott, Yale (So., OH – Winter Park, Fla.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 22 K, .258 Hitting %, 5 Digs, 3 TB, 23.5 Pts.
 
Kate Swanson, Yale (Jr., L – Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 16 A, 2 SA, 44 Digs, 2.0 Pts.