PRINCETON, N.J. -- In a league that has shown a continued rise nationally, Princeton was selected to win its fourth Ivy League title in the last five years in the 2019 Ivy League Volleyball Preseason Media Poll.
The Tigers - finished 19-6 overall last season and second in conference action with a 12-2 mark – received 10-of-15 first-place votes and accumulated 120 points to top the poll. In search of a league-best 18th League championship, Princeton will rely heavily on its experienced senior class of setter
Jessie Harris, right-side hitter
Maggie O’Connell, outside hitter
Devon Peterkin and outside hitter
Natasha Skov.
The quartet has combined to claim eight All-Ivy honors, a Rookie of the Year selection (O’Connell) and a Player of the Year nod (O’Connell) over the past three seasons.
Princeton narrowly edged defending Ivy League champion Yale. The Bulldogs tallied five first-place votes and 120 points to rank second in the preseason ledger. Yale returns 2018 Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Year in
Frances Arnautou and
Ellis DeJardin, respectively, as well as
Samantha Bray, a second-team All-Ivy selection from a year ago.
Looking for its first Ivy League championship since winning three-straight from 2005-07, Cornell sits third in the poll with 91 points. The Big Red finished the 2018 season with nine league victories, the most for the Big Red since the 2008 campaign. Cornell welcomes back three second-team All-Ivy honorees in sophomore right-side hitter
Jillienne Bennett, senior outside hitter
Samanta Arenas and senior middle blocker
Jenna Phelps.
Harvard, which tallied the final first-place vote, is listed fourth with 80 points after finishing the 2018 campaign 11-12 overall and 6-8 in League play.
Rounding out the poll were Dartmouth with 55 points, Brown with 45 points, Columbia with 44 points and Penn with 24 points.
Princeton (2015, 2016, 2017) and Yale (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018) have combined to capture at least a share of the last nine Ivy League titles. The meeting of the perennial contenders on Sunday, Oct. 13 at Princeton
will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
The 2019 Ivy League volleyball season kicks off on Friday, September 6, with a full weekend slate of non-conference action. The Ivy League is coming off a 2018 campaign in which it boasted its second-straight .500-or-better non-conference winning percentage.
2019 IVY LEAGUE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
First-place votes in parentheses
| RANK |
SCHOOL |
POINTS |
| 1. |
Princeton (10) |
120 |
| 2. |
Yale (5) |
117 |
| 3. |
Cornell |
91 |
| 4. |
Harvard (1) |
80 |
| 5. |
Dartmouth |
55 |
| 6. |
Brown |
45 |
| 7. |
Columbia |
44 |
| 8. |
Penn |
24 |