In an extended best-of-five game match, the Lions lost their last home game of the season, 3-1, to the Princeton University Tigers last Wednesday.
The Lions played a close first match. Princeton had a seven-point lead at one point, but the Lions shortened the gap, losing by only two points.
Taking an early lead in the second match, the Lions pushed Princeton behind by eight points in their widest margin. Princeton managed to close up the gap, but lost the match by three points.
Lions' freshman middle hitter Lauren Veith blocked well and came up with hard hits.
"I thought that the harder we played and the more we tried to make them make mistakes, we'd be able to feed off of that," Veith said.
The Lions started off the third match solid but ended sluggish. Princeton won the match 25-14, but their game-winning point came on a penalty.
"It was disappointing to lose the game on a penalty like that because we were playing hard and playing well before that," Lauren Kidd, junior outside hitter, said.
Princeton maintained a slight lead throughout much of the fourth match, with excellent hits by middle hitter Toya Randolph.
Veith brought the score within one with an ace, but Princeton dominated the end of the game, winning by five points.
"It was disappointing to lose but I think we played really well together," Kidd said. "Everyone got to show what they could do."
The line-up for the first and fourth matches was the same, but the team tried different combinations of players in the second and third matches.
"We did a nice job of communicating because we had different people next to us," senior outside hitter Jamie Cooperstein said. "It added to the depth of our team."
Throughout the game, Cooperstein delivered powerful hits and spikes. Sophomore defender Carolyn Moran held up a solid performance.
The team finished the regular season with a record of 5-9, a slight improvement from last year's record of 5-11.
"This year was a rebuilding year," Christine Wilson, senior backup setter, said. "We've definitely improved."
"We're more of a team this year rather than individuals," head coach Andrea Carroll said. "Last year, we had a lot of players with little experience. Now we're more comfortable with the game itself."
The Lions will be competing in Nationals on April 10 in Columbus, Ohio, hoping to better their 0-6 record from last year.
"I hope to get far in the tournament and surprise a lot of people because we didn't do our best last year," Kidd said.
"This year we have more of a team atmosphere and we'll do a lot better," Kidd added.
Upcoming Games
In their final event of the season, the Lions Club Volleyball team will be competing in the Nirsa Collegiate Volleyball Sport Club Championships in Columbus, Ohio from Wednesday April 9 until Sunday April 13.
