Princeton senior setter Makayla Hecht feels she has many offensive options to choose from.

Hecht went to nearly all of them during the Tigresses’ 25-17, 26-24 victory over Ottawa at Kingman Gym on Thursday.

“I feel like one of this team’s strengths is that we have a number of hitters on our team that we can count on at any time,” said Hecht, who finished with 18 assists, two kills and five digs. “When we really need a point, we have a bunch of options.

“The key for me is to spread the ball around, but also if someone gets hot to do what I can to get them the ball. Setting is also about adjusting. Tonight, Ottawa really tried to take away the outside in the second set, so I tried to go to the middle or backset when I could.”

Princeton (11-6) was led by nine kills from Caroline Keutzer (a block, three aces), five each from Keely Lawson (two aces) and Kathy Maciczak, and three from Keighley Davis. Camryn Driscoll recorded a team-high 15 digs, with Lawson adding eight.

“We were able to put balls away when we really needed to tonight,” Princeton coach Andy Puck said. “I thought Ottawa played well, and we needed a match like this, one where we were pushed back a little. We sometimes take the foot of the gas and play not to lose, but tonight we did a great job of, no matter the situation, staying positive and moving on from the last point.”

Princeton held a 21-15 lead in the opening set before pair of hitting errors closed the gap. But frosm there, a side out kill by Davis, an ace by Lawson, a Pirate hitting error and a winning swing by Keutzer closed out the set.

A six-point service burst by Keutzer that included three aces, two kills by Lawson and another by Danika Burden pushed the visitors’ advantage to 13-9. Ottawa closed to within 16-15 on a kill by Belle Markey and 21-16 on a block by Bella Knoll. A couple of Princeton miscues tied the set at 24-all, but a kill from Maciczak and a block on match point by Davis ended the night.

“The second set we had a nice run and Ottawa came back, but we just pushed through and were able to make a couple plays in those final few points to close it out.

“This isn’t an easy gym to play in with all of the open space, and we struggled with our serves and serve-receive. This was probably our worst match all year in those aspects, but offensively we trusted our training and the fact that others besides our setter can make solid passes for attacks.”

Bella Markey led Ottawa with six kills, with Knoll (two blocks) adding five, Savannah Markey three and Libby Muffler two. Bailey Etscheid and Kendall Biba each posted two aces. Meredith Waldron and Ashlynn Ganiere (seven assists) each had nine digs with Jordyn Allen (eight assists) chipping in six.

“(Princeton) came out serving and swinging strong, for sure,” Ottawa coach Kristina Kore said, her team now 6-10-2 on the season. “They are a very solid, well-rounded team. We struggled with our serve-receive at times, and that didn’t allow us to really settle into our offense. They served very aggressively and put the pressure on us. They are also a super scrappy bunch.

“We are still trying to find more all-around consistency. We’ll have stretches where we are playing great, and then other times we get into a funk and can’t get out of it.

“I thought we played OK tonight, especially the second set, but it needed to be at a higher level against a very good team tonight for us to be successful.”

Both squads are off until next Tuesday, when Princeton travels to take on Erie-Prophetstown, and Ottawa is on the road at Morris.