After leading nearly start to finish in a dominant first set, the Princeton volleyball team admittedly “let up a little bit” in the second set.

Hall capitalized on that to pull out a close win in the second.

However, the Tigresses returned to first set form in the decisive third to beat the Red Devils 25-15, 22-25, 25-14 in a Three Rivers Conference East Division match at Prouty Gymnasium in Princeton.

“I think overall we played pretty well,” Princeton libero Camryn Driscoll said. “I think we lost a little bit of our jazz in the second set.

“I think we sat down for a second (after the second set), took a breath and we were like, ‘Come on.’ We had to trust our training. I think we got back to having fun.”

The Tigresses were strong in the third set. A Hall error and a Caroline Keutzer kill gave Princeton a 2-0 lead and the Tigresses led the rest of the way.

Princeton opened up a 9-4 lead - a stretch that included three kills by Keutzer, two kills by Keely Lawson, a kill by Kathy Maciczak and a tip by Makayla Hecht - that forced Hall coach Carolyn Foster to call a timeout.

“The second set we let up a little bit where we could have pushed harder, but I think the first and third sets we did play pretty well as a team,” Princeton middle hitter Keighley Davis said. “I think (the key) was just having energy, communicating and just trusting each other.”

The Tigresses extended their lead out to 17-9 before another Red Devil timeout, but it didn’t slow down Princeton as it pushed the advantage to 20-9.

“We played really well the first and third sets,” Princeton coach Andy Puck said. “We just took our foot off the gas the second set. We’ve really been working on trying to stay aggressive through 25 points. When you let up, you let a team like Hall in and the next thing you know you’re playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Give Hall credit, they were digging everything. They served well. They just got us on our heels. It’s a game of momentum and whatever team has momentum at the right time, they’re going to be able to rattle off 5-6-7 points.

“I was very happy with our kids. They finally trusted me and listened to our coaches and got back to our game plan (in the third set). We really stressed, No. 1 serve-receive and we sided out well, and No. 2, was serving. We had too many missed serves. They were aggressive serves, but still unforced errors. There’s a fine line between being aggressive but also staying clean and giving yourself a chance to score points. It was kind of a roller coaster tonight.”

The Tigresses took the lead for good at 2-1 in the first set on a Davis kill and the set was never really in doubt, but the Red Devils responded in the second set.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second set. Hall’s Kaitlyn Coutts put down a kill to tie it at 21, then two Princeton errors and a net violation gave Hall a 24-21 lead. Another Princeton error ended the set.

“I think we started slowing them down a little bit with our block,” Foster said. “They starting having to stop swinging and start doing some tipping, and we were picking it up. They missed quite a few serves too, and that kind of changed the momentum.”

For Princeton (10-6, 4-0 TRC East), Lawson put down 13 kills, Davis had 12, Keutzer had seven and Maciczak added six, while Hecht put up 30 assists, Driscoll had nine digs and Hecht added eight. Keutzer served three aces and Maciczak had four blocks.

Coutts had seven kills and seven digs to lead Hall (3-12, 1-3), while Charlie Pellegrini had 10 digs and Emma McCook had eight assists and six digs. Mia Wenzel came up to varsity because the Red Devils “needed a block up there” and Hall switched to a 6-2.

“She did phenomenal and I’m very proud of her,” Foster said. “We changed our lineup over the weekend and we only had one practice. We had a long practice (Monday) trying different things. I didn’t even know what I was going to do tonight. I went in with a ton of lineups to choose from. The girls played their hearts out. I’m glad we went three games because we’ve been struggling and haven’t been clicking.”

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Princeton's Keighley Davis hits the ball between Hall's Kaitlyn Coutts (left) and Natalia Zamora on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 in Princeton. (Mike Vaughn)