VIDEO: Ivy Champ Princeton Volleyball Seeks Historic Upset Tonight At #14 Iowa State

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Princeton NCAA Championships Notes Packet

It seemed like the Princeton women's volleyball team faced one pressure-packed situation after another over the final month of the 2017 season. The Tigers took their fair share of hits, but they stood their ground and claimed the University's first Ivy title three-peat in volleyball since 1979-82.

And now, just like that, the pressure falls squarely on the shoulders of its opponent.

Once two matches behind Yale with five to play, the 2017 Ivy League champion Princeton volleyball team will make its way to Ames, Iowa, Friday night to battle the 14th-seeded Iowa State Cyclones at 8 pm ET (7 pm local) in the first round of the NCAA Championships. All-session tickets are available now, with prices ranging from $15 for adults to $10 for kids, and they can be purchased here. Single-match tickets will be available Friday afternoon.

You can watch tonight's match here.

Princeton is making its seventh trip to the NCAA tournament, and its second in as many years; last season, the Tigers put a scare in #10 BYU in two sets before ultimately falling 25-22, 25-15, 25-23. That result was hardly a shock when you look at the recent history of Top-16 seeds in the NCAA tournament; since the start of the 2011 national championships, Top-16 seeds are 95-1 in the first round, and they have a 287-20 advantage in sets won.

The Tigers came as close as almost anybody last season, and they will bring both the 2017 Ivy League Player of the Year (Maggie O'Connell), as well as five All-Ivy League players (O'Connell, Jessie Harris, Nnenna Ibe, Caroline Sklaver, and Devon Peterkin) into Friday's showdown with the Cyclones at the Hilton Coliseum. Four of those five were starters against BYU last year, while Sklaver has provided strong offense at the middle position following the graduation of Brittany Ptak.

The task is a significant one, as Iowa State (20-6) is a balanced, dangerous opponent that didn't lose a single match to a non-tournament team this season. Four of the Cyclones' losses have come against Top 12-seeded NCAA teams (2 to Texas, 2 to Baylor), and they also own a win over ninth-seeded Creighton. They have four players averaging more than 2.0 kills per match, including team leader Jess Schaben, who averages 3.3 and has scored 353.0 points this season. Iowa State's biggest strength may be on the defensive side; the Cyclones rank eighth in the NCAA with 3.01 blocks per set, and they rank 14th nationally with a .154 opponent hitting percentage.

The winner of the Princeton-Iowa State match will play Saturday night against the winner of Friday's first match (5 ET, 4 local) between Wisconsin and Marquette.

More notes for the upcoming weekend can be found below. Be sure to follow @PrincetonVolley and @PUTigers on Twitter, as well as @PrincetonVolley, @PrincetonAthletics, and @IvyLeague on instagram throughout the weekend.

Dancing Again
For the seventh time in program history, the Princeton women's volleyball team will compete in the NCAA tournament after claiming the Ivy League title and clinching the postseason bid with a 3-0 win at Yale in the Ivy playoff match. The Tigers are winless in postseason play, and they won their lone set against Delaware in 2007.

Making A Habit Of This
For only the second time in program history, Princeton is competing in back-to-back NCAA tournaments. The Tigers made the NCAAs last year after going 13-1 in the Ivy League, and they played two highly competitive sets at No. 10 BYU in a 25-22, 25-15, 25-23 loss in Provo.

King Of The Court
Sabrina King has been part of Princeton's last six NCAA tournament appearances. She went three times as a player (1997, 1999, 2000), once as an assistant coach (2007), and the last two years as head coach. A two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, King has played a role in Princeton's last eight Ivy League titles (three as a player, 2004/2007 as an assistant coach, 2015-2017 as head coach).

Common Cold
Princeton and Iowa State have one common opponent this season, Iowa. Iowa State beat its in-state rival 3-1, while Iowa topped Princeton 3-0 in an early-season tournament at American.

Mighty Maggie
Princeton sophomore Maggie O'Connell made history this season by becoming the seventh Ivy League Player of the Year in program history. O'Connell, the only Princeton underclassman to ever earn this honor, also joins Parker Henritze '08 as the only player to earn both Ivy League Rookie and Player of the Year honors in her career.
O'Connell was the only player in the Ivy League to rank in the Top 5 in both kills (3.38) and points (3.74) per set, as well as Top 10 in hitting percentage (.282). After starting the season with nine double-digit kill efforts in a 17-match span, she ended the season with 10+ kills in seven straight matches.

We're Honored
While Maggie O'Connell was named the Ivy Player of the Year, five Princeton players earned All-Ivy League honors. Junior middles Nnenna Ibe and Caroline Sklaver joined sophomore setter Jessie Harris on the All-Ivy second team, while sophomore outside Devon Peterkin earned honorable mention.

Welcome Back
Five of Princeton's potential starters in the NCAA first round started in the 2016 NCAA tournament match at BYU (S Jessie Harris, Lib Maddie Huber, MB Nnenna Ibe, OPP Maggie O'Connell, OH Devon Peterkin). O'Connell led Princeton with 12 kills at BYU, while Harris had a team-best 36 assists and Huber had a team-high 19 digs. Peterkin had five kills and 10 digs, while Ibe had four kills and a block.

Gimme Five
Princeton made league history this season by having five players earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors. Natasha Skov — who made her career debut in the NCAA match against BYU last year — joined All-Ivy teammates Jessie Harris, Nnenna Ibe, Caroline Sklaver and Maggie O'Connell as weekly Ivy League award winners this season.

Princeton vs The Best
Princeton faced two teams inside the Top 50 this season (Iowa and North Texas), and dropped early-season matches to both. The Tigers played eight matches against teams inside the Top 100 and went 4-4; besides Iowa and North Texas, they lost to both American and a regular-season match against Yale. Princeton's four wins came against Villanova, Connecticut and two against Yale, including a 3-0 win in the Ivy League playoff.
Princeton played two matches against conference champions who advanced to the NCAAs; the Tigers lost 3-1 at Patriot League champion American, and they won 3-1 over MEAC champion Howard.

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