Women's Volleyball

Ivies Off to Best Start in a Decade

PRINCETON, N.J. -- After leading their teams to winning marks last weekend, Princeton sophomore outside hitter Natasha Skov and Columbia freshman outside hitter Jamie Dailey were named the Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Princeton is 6-1 on the year including a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Villanova Invitational, while Columbia went 2-1 at the Art Carmichael Invitational. 

LEAGUE NOTES
  • The Ivy League is off to its best start in a decade at 29-21 (.580). The Ancient Eight owns a .500-or-better winning percentage through 50 games for the third time over the past 10 seasons, following a 27-23 (.540) start in 2010 and a 26-24 (.520) start in 2011.
  • Princeton was the lone Ivy to go unbeaten last week, posting a 4-0 mark, including a 3-0 record at the Villanova Classic. The Tigers are 6-1 on the year.
  • Seven-of-eight Ivies are .500-or-better on the season.
  • All eight Ivies will compete in non-conference tournaments this weekend, prior to the start of League play on Friday, Sept. 22.
  • Yale will take on its second ranked team, when it faces No. 2 Penn State on Friday, September 15, in the Penn State Classic. The Bulldogs fell, 3-0, to No. 19 USC on September 9.
  • Princeton’s Maggie O’Connell and Natasha Skov pace the Ancient Eight with 3.83 and 3.74 kills per set, respectively.
  • With 10.48 assists per set, Princeton’s Jessie Harris also tops the Ivy League.
  • Cornell’s Kiley McPeek leads the League with 5.67 digs per set, while teammate Jenna Phelps tops the Ancient Eight charts with 1.64 blocks per set.
  • Eight Ivies are hitting .327-or-better, led by Penn’s Kendall Covington (.397).  
  • Four 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
Tuesday, September 12
Brown at Providence, 7 p.m. [Friars All-Access]
 
Thursday, September 14
1 - Boston College at Harvard, 7 p.m. [ILN]
 
Friday, September 15
2 - Penn vs. Rutgers, 11 a.m.
3 - Brown vs. Hartford, 4 p.m. [NEC Front Row]
4 - Cornell vs. La Salle, 4 p.m.
5 - Dartmouth vs. Rhode Island, 4:30 p.m. [UNH Wildcats Productions]
2 - Penn at Robert Morris, 6:30 p.m.
6 - Fordham at Columbia, 7 p.m. [ILN]
1 - Harvard at Northeastern, 7 p.m. [GoNUxtream]
7 - Princeton at American, 7 p.m. [PLN]
8 - Yale at No. 2 Penn State, 7:30 p.m. [BTN2Go]
 
Saturday, September 16
5 - Dartmouth vs. Siena, 10 a.m. [UNH Wildcats Productions]
2 - Penn vs. Middle Tennessee, 10 a.m.
7 - Princeton vs. Howard, 12 p.m.
3 - Brown at Sacred Heart, 12:30 p.m. [NEC Front Row]
8 - Yale vs. Ohio, 1 p.m.
4 - Cornell vs. Stony Brook, 2 p.m.
3 - Brown vs. Lehigh, 4 p.m. [NEC Front Row]
1 - UMass Lowell at Harvard, 5 p.m. [ILN]
7 - Princeton vs. Iowa, 5 p.m.
6 - St. Francis Brooklyn at Columbia, 6 p.m. [ILN]
4 - Cornell at Colgate, 6 p.m. [PLN]
8 - Yale vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m.
5 - Dartmouth at New Hampshire, 7 p.m. [ESPN3]
 
Sunday, September 10
6 - Columbia at LIU Brooklyn, 4 p.m.
 
KEY
Friars All-Access – Broadcast on Providence’s Friars All-Access
ILN – Broadcast on the Ivy League Network, now available on Apple TV and Roku
NEC Front Row – Broadcast on the Northeast Conference’s NEC Front Row
UNH Wildcats Productions – Broadcast on New Hampshire's UNH Wildcats Productions
GoNUxstream – Broadcast on Northeastern’s GoNUxstream.com
PLN – Broadcast on the Patriot League Network
BTN2Go – Broadcast on the Big Ten Network’s BTN2Go
ESPN3 – Broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App
1 – New England Challenge (Boston, Mass.)
2 – Robert Morris Invitational (Moon Township, Pa.)
3 – SHU Hampton Inn by Hilton Shelton Invitational (Fairfield, Conn.)
4 – Colgate Invitational (Hamilton, N.Y.)
5 – Holly Young Invitational (Durham, N.H.)
6 – The Big Apple Battle (New York)
7 – American Volleyball Classic (Washington, D.C.)
8 – Penn State Classic (University Park, Pa.)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The fourth freshman on a team that featured three All-Ivy freshman starters—Jessie Harris, Maggie O’Connell and Devon Peterkin—in 2017, Natasha Skov has made the most of her opportunity following the graduation of two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Cara Mattaliano. The Oakland, Calif., native, who did not appear in a regular-season match last season, now leads the Tigers with 101 kills and 116 points through seven matches.
 
Skov propelled Princeton to a 4-0 week, with wins over Seton Hall (3-2), Villanova (3-0), Albany (3-0) and UConn (3-1). She posted her second career 20-kill affair against Seton Hall and notched back-to-back double-doubles against Albany (15 K, 15 Digs) and UConn (16 K, 10 Digs). While leading the Tigers in kills (4.13/set) and points (4.97/set), the sophomore outside hitter also ranked second on the team in digs (4.97/set).
 
Princeton’s Class of 2020 combined to produce seven Rookie of the Week honors last season. Yet Skov, who did not appear in a regular-season match last year, is the first to earn a Player of the Week nod.
 
Skov’s Statistics for the Week  
4 MP, 15 Sets, 62 K, .212 Hitting %, 2 A, 6 SA, 38 Digs, 11 TB, 74.5 Pts.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Despite her freshman standing, Jamie Dailey’s name may be familiar to Ancient Eight faithful. Jamie is the younger sister of Cat Dailey—a two-time First Team All-Ivy selection and a unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year (2008)—who played her junior and senior seasons at Yale.
 
A Columbia freshman outside hitter, the younger Dailey helped the Lions to a 2-1 week, while appearing in a pair of matches. The Newport Beach, Calif., native hit .474 in a three-set loss to Northeastern and .342 in a four-set win over Rhode Island on Sept. 9. She also tallied a career-high 16 kills against the Rams. For her efforts, Dailey was named to the Art Carmichael Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
Dailey received the first Ivy League weekly award of her career and is the first Lion Rookie of the Week honoree since Chichi Ikwuazom on Nov. 14, 2016.
 
Dailey’s Statistics for the Week 
2 MP, 7 Sets, 27 K, .386 Hitting %, 4 Digs, 7 TB, 30.5 Pts.
 
HONOR ROLL
Sabrina Stillwell, Brown (Jr., RS – Laguna Beach, Calif.)
3 MP, 11 Sets, 36 K, .485 Hitting %, 2 Digs, 7 TB, 39.5 Pts.
 
Luciana Del Valle, Columbia (Jr., OH – Lima, Peru)
3 MP, 10 Sets, 30 K, .243 Hitting %, 2 A, 1 SA, 27 Digs, 1 TB, 31.5 Pts.
 
Anja Malesevic, Columbia (Sr., RS – Belgrade, Serbia)
3 MP, 9 Sets, 32 K, .228 Hitting %, 2 A, 9 Digs, 4 TB, 34.0 Pts.  
 
Kiley McPeek, Cornell (Sr., L – Deer Park, Ill.)
3 MP, 11 Sets, 11 A, 5 SA, 81 Digs, 5.0 Pts.
 
Tori Dozier, Dartmouth (So., S – Raleigh, N.C.)
3 MP, 12 Sets, 10 K, .118 Hitting %, 84 A, 30 Digs, 8 TB, 14.0 Pts.
 
Abby Kott, Dartmouth (So., MB – Cary, N.C.)
3 MP, 13 Sets, 31 K, .385 Hitting %, 4 Digs, 15 TB, 40.5 Pts.
 
Maclaine Fields, Harvard (So., MB – Alamo, Calif.)
3 MP, 9 Sets, 23 K, .396 Hitting %, 2 A, 5 Digs, 8 TB, 28.0 Pts.
 
Kendall Covington, Penn (Sr., OH – Houston, Texas)
3 MP, 12 Sets, 33 K, .408 Hitting %, 2 SA, 2 Digs, 10 TB, 40.5 Pts.
 
Parker Jones, Penn (Fr., OH – Lafayette, Calif.)
3 MP, 12 Sets, 37 K, .210 Hitting %, 1 A, 1 SA, 41 Digs, 7 TB, 41.5 Pts.
 
Maggie O’Connell, Princeton (So., RS – Katy, Texas)
3 MP, 15 Sets, 55 K, .244 Hitting %, 13 Digs, 10 TB, 61.0 Pts.
 
Kelley Wirth, Yale (Jr., OH – Moraga, Calif.)
3 MP, 10 Sets, 32 K, .213 Hitting %, 3 Digs, 9 TB, 36.5 Pts.