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Men's volleyball loses road games to league rivals Juniata and Penn State

The old Pennsylvania license plate boasts the motto, "You've got a friend in Pennsylvania." Apparently "you" does not include the men's volleyball team, which received anything but a friendly welcome as it traveled to the Quaker State and lost back-to-back matches this past weekend.

The Tigers' first opponent was league rival Juniata. Having anticipated an easy victory, Princeton stepped on the court Friday night expecting to roll over the host Eagles (6-6, 4-3 EIVA Tait Division). The Tigers won the first game by a slim margin, 30-28, thanks in part to a series of Juniata serving and hitting errors. Princeton was unable to maintain the upperhand for the rest of the match, however, losing the next three games 26-30, 23-30 and 25-30.

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"They gave us the first game by making way too many mistakes," sophomore opposite Dennis Alshuler said. "But we couldn't capitalize on those mistakes the rest of the games."

Plagued by bad passing and inconsistent hitting, the Tigers struggled both on the back court and at the net. Though Alshuler led with 13 kills and freshman Jason Liljestrom recorded 38 assists, Princeton had difficulty connecting on most plays and failed to serve effectively.

"I really think Juniata is a team we should easily be beating at this point in our season," senior outside hitter Steve Cooper said. "These Division III teams that we play always get really fired up to play us, and Juniata played well, but we should have played better."

After the disappointing loss at Juniata, the Tigers returned to the road Saturday to take on Division I powerhouse Penn State (9-2 overall, 6-0 EIVA). Ranked No. 9 in the nation in the most recent USA Today Coaches' poll, the Nittany Lions had not lost a league game since 1998, when the Tigers beat them en route to their Final Four trip. This year, however, Princeton was not up to the challenge. Favored with not only home court advantage, but with a size and strength advantage also, Penn State dominated the match, winning in three straight, 30-24, 30-20 and 30-27.

"Penn State is one of the top teams in the nation, so going into the game we knew that we had to play out of our minds to hang with them," junior middle hitter Scott Dore said. "We lost, but all of the games were pretty close. We made a few head-turning plays during the match, but they were clearly a more dominant team."

Unlike the Juniata match, the loss to Penn State was not entirely discouraging. The Tigers jumped to an early 6-2 start in the first game before the Nittany Lions responded with a series of kills to take the lead. During the rest of the match, Princeton continued to challenge the Penn State defense, eventually forcing a Nittany Lion timeout in game three when the Tigers took the lead, 24-23.

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Senior middle hitter Ryan Black led Princeton with 11 kills, while Cooper added 10 from the outside. Senior opposite Kevin Roche — who has played primarily a defensive role most of the season — also stepped up to the net to lead the attack from the right.

"We definitely played better against Penn State than we did Friday," Liljestrom — who had 33 assists in the match — said. "Roche was hitting over their block and Dore had a sick dome on their [attack], but we just couldn't finish strong."

The dual losses brought the Tigers to a 4-5 record overall, 3-3 in EIVA standings. They do not have to wait long before getting a chance to improve their record, as they have two league games this week.

Last night, Princeton traveled to Fairfax, Va. to face EIVA-rival George Mason (the game results were not in by the time of this publication). It will hit the road again later this week, though this time playing a little closer to home, as it takes on Rutgers Friday.

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