Volleyball

Last season, the men’s volleyball team hired head coach Sam Shweisky, who led the squad to an appearance in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association finals for the first time since 1990. There, the Tigers fell to undefeated Penn State, who would later be defeated by Stanford in the finals of the NCAA tournament. Shweisky was named the 2010 EIVA Bob Sweeney Coach of the Year.

The men’s volleyball team split its games this weekend, losing a hard-fought battle to the Penn State Nittany Lions before rebounding with a victory over St. Francis. The Tigers’ (3-14 overall, 1-8 EIVA Tait Division) loss to No. 10 Penn State (19-5, 9-0) put them in the unenviable position of having to sweep their last two conference games to even have a chance to advance to the postseason.

With just less than two months until classes start again, we bring you the first half of summer’s Princeton athletics highlights.

 When Jeff McCown and Carl Hamming joined the men’s volleyball team as freshmen in 2006, their rookie season ended at an even 6-6 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division. Their 2008 EIVA finish was identical and was followed by a disappointing 4-9 finish last year. This year, however, the co-captains and three-year starters were determined to end on a high note.

Just two weeks ago, the men’s volleyball team was on the verge of being eliminated from the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association playoffs. A hard-fought season was coming down to a race to the playoffs in the last two games, and Princeton’s future seemed uncertain.