Women's Volleyball

Four Teams Remain in Ivy Title Contention Entering Final Weekend

PRINCETON, N.J. -- After leading their teams to 2-0 weeks, Princeton junior middle blocker Caroline Sklaver and Penn freshman outside hitter Parker Jones claimed the Ivy League’s weekly honors. Both Princeton (9-3) and Penn (7-5) remain in Ivy title contention, along with Yale (9-3) and Harvard (7-5) entering the final weekend of League play. 

LEAGUE NOTES
  • With two matches remaining in League play, Princeton and Yale sit atop the Ancient Eight standings with 9-3 marks. Princeton will visit Harvard and Dartmouth, while Yale will travel to Cornell and Columbia this weekend.
  • The Tigers and Bulldogs each control their own destiny. Should both sweep the weekend, they would share the Ivy League title and force a one-match Ivy League Volleyball Playoff to be contested the following weekend. Princeton is looking for its third-straight Ivy title, while Yale is searching for its first since a run of five-straight from 2010-14.
  • Harvard (7-5) and Penn (7-5) also remain in contention for an Ivy League title. Each would need to a 2-0 weekend, along with a coinciding 0-4 weekend from Princeton and Yale, to clinch a share. 
  • 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 (3.97) and points (4.49) per set. The senior has had 25-or-more kills in four of her last five matches.
  • Seven Ivies are hitting .300-or-better, with Columbia sophomore middle blocker Chichi Ikwuazom (.380) continuing to flirt with the .400 mark. She also leads the League with 1.36 blocks per set. Nationally, Ikwuazom sits 42nd in hitting percentage and 28th in blocks per set.
  • Harvard sophomore setter Erin McCarthy (865) paces the League in assists, while Penn freshman outside hitter Parker Jones tops the conference in kills (293) and points (331.5).
  • 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 .51 service aces per set to rank sixth nationally, while McPeek registers 4.90 digs per set to sit 46th in NCAA Division I.  
  • As a team, Cornell tallies 17.30 digs per set, which is 24th in NCAA Division I.
  • Columbia averages 1.71 aces per set to rank eighth in the nation, while Dartmouth is 41st with 2.49 blocks per set.  
  • Princeton ranks among the top 50 in the nation in assists per set (36th, 13.11) and kills per set (31st, 14.04).
  • All eight of this week’s matches will be broadcast on the Ivy League Network, which is available on Apple TV and Roku. The network can be found at IvyLeague.TV and IvyLeagueNetwork.com.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, November 10
Penn at Dartmouth, 5 p.m. [ILN]
Brown at Columbia, 7 p.m. [ILN]
Yale at Cornell, 7 p.m. [ILN]
Princeton at Harvard, 7 p.m. [ILN]
 
Saturday, November 11
Yale at Columbia, 5 p.m. [ILN]
Brown at Cornell, 5 p.m. [ILN]
Princeton at Dartmouth, 5 p.m. [ILN]
Penn at Harvard, 5 p.m. [ILN]
 
KEY
ILN – Broadcast on the Ivy League Network, now available on Apple TV and Roku

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
With one week remaining in Ivy League play, Princeton (9-3) and Yale (9-3) are tied atop the Ancient Eight standings. Princeton’s place in the standings has a lot to do with junior middle blocker Caroline Sklaver, who helped lift the Tigers back into first place with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Columbia and Cornell.
 
The Miami Beach, Fla., native hit .563 with 21 kills against Columbia and Cornell. She also added three blocks, one assist and one dig, while tallying 23.5 points across six sets. After appearing in just eight matches over her first two seasons in Princeton, Sklaver has played an integral role in the Tiger lineup as a junior. For the year, she ranks fourth on the team with 2.35 kills/set and 3.02 points/set.
 
Sklaver earns her first career Player of the Week award, giving Princeton four different Player of the Week honorees this season. Sklaver joins teammates Natasha Skov (Sept. 11), Jessie Harris (Oct. 2) and Nnenna Ibe (Oct. 9) among the award recipients.
 
Sklaver’s Statistics for the Week  
2 MP, 6 Sets, 21 K, .563 Hitting %, 1 A, 1 Dig, 3 TB, 23.5 Pts.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
The Ivy League leader in kills (293) and points (331.5), Penn freshman outside hitter Parker Jones has propelled the Quakers to four-straight Ivy League wins to claw back into a tie with Harvard (7-5) for third in the Ancient Eight standings.
 
The Lafayette, Calif., product recorded back-to-back double-doubles as Penn downed Cornell (3-1) and Columbia (3-2). Jones had 15 kills and 12 digs against Cornell and 19 kills and 12 digs against Columbia. She hit .287 on the week en route to 35.0 points.
 
Jones is the first Ivy League freshman to garner three Rookie of the Week awards (Sept. 4, Sept. 18) this season.

Jones’ Statistics for the Week 
2 MP, 9 Sets, 34 K, .287 Hitting %, 2 A, 1 SA, 24 Digs, 35.0 Pts.
 
HONOR ROLL
Melissa Cairo, Brown (Sr., L – Hillsborough, Calif.)
2 MP, 9 Sets, 8 A, 5 SA, 58 Digs, 5.0 Pts.
 
Audrey Cheng, Columbia (Fr., S – Superior, Colo.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 4 K, .571 Hitting %, 78 A, 3 SA, 18 Digs, 3 TB, 8.5 Pts.
 
Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia (So., MB – New York, N.Y.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 18 K, .300 Hitting %, 1 Dig, 15 TB, 27.0 Pts.
 
Anja Malesevic, Columbia (Sr., RS – Belgrade, Serbia)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 35 K, .143 Hitting %, 15 Digs, 6 TB, 38.0 Pts.
 
Jenna Phelps, Cornell (So., MB – Bucyrus, Kan.)
2 MP, 7 Sets, 19 K, .529 Hitting %, 1 SA, 5 Digs, 2 TB, 21.0 Pts.

Tori Dozier, Dartmouth (So., S – Raleigh, N.C.)
2 MP, 7 Sets, 9 K, .286 Hitting %, 61 A, 1 SA, 27 Digs, 7 TB, 14.0 Pts.
 
Grace Roberts Burbank, Harvard (So., OH – San Francisco, Calif.)
2 MP, 10 Sets, 36 K, .263 Hitting %, 2 SA, 21 Digs, 1 TB, 39.0 Pts.

Hayley Molnar, Penn (So., OH – Arlington, Va.)
2 MP, 9 Sets, 22 K, .235 Hitting %, 3 Digs, 9 TB, 26.5 Pts.
 
Alexa Underwood, Princeton (Fr., OH – Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
2 MP, 6 Sets, 17 K, .260 Hitting %, 2 A, 2 SA, 26 Digs, 19.0 Pts.
 
Kathryn Attar, Yale (Fr., OH – Tampa, Fla.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 30 K, .205 Hitting %, 1 SA, 22 Digs, 5 TB, 34.5 Pts.
 
Kate Swanson, Yale (Jr., L – Racho Santa Fe, Calif.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 7 A, 2 SA, 57 Digs, 2.0 Pts.
 
Kelley Wirth, Yale (Jr., OH – Moraga, Calif.)
2 MP, 8 Sets, 25 K, .323 Hitting %, 5 Digs, 5 TB, 28.0 Pts.