Men's volleyball team opens season in CA

All the leaves are brown. And the sky has been gray. Now that Intersession is over, we're back in the snow to stay. While many of us might be California Dreamin' on such dreary winter's days, the men's volleyball team had its first chance to play.

Taking its annual winter trip to southern California last week, Princeton faced three west coast opponents from Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego in its first matches of the 2001 season.

On Jan. 29, the Tigers won their season opener 3-1 against the University of LaVerne. After falling short in the first game, Princeton stormed back to claim the next three, winning the match, 31-33, 31-29, 30-24, 30-22. Clearly the dominant force on the court, the Tigers outplayed the host Leopards both offensively and defensively.

Sophomore opposite Dennis Alshuler led the attack with 23 kills, while senior outside hitter Steve Cooper contributed with a team-high .381 hitting percentage. From the backcourt, junior middle Gary Chern paced the Tiger defense with 13 digs, while freshman setter Jason Liljestrom had 62 assists in his collegiate volleyball debut.

"I thought we played well after that first game," Cooper said. "The last three games, we passed well so we were able to do anything we wanted at the net."

The solid win over LaVerne did not carry Princeton very far, however, as the Tigers fell to the University of California-Irvine the following day. Currently ranked No. 14 in the nation, the talented Anteaters controlled the court from the start and decisively defeated the Tigers in three matches (30-17, 30-26, 30-17). Though tied at one point in the second game, 21-21, the Tigers proved rather non-threatening to the powerful UCI squad, which took off on a 9-5 run to win the game.

At the net, senior middle hitter Ryan Black had three solid blocks against the Anteater attack, but the Tigers were unable to consistently stop the aggressive UCI offense. Though not enough to carry the Tigers to victory, Liljestrom gave a solid performance with a match-high 34 assists. Cooper swung for 12 kills.

On defense, Chern and senior outside hitter Blair Anderson had six digs each, but Princeton was unable to successfully cover the court and control the ball.

After the loss to the Anteaters, the Tigers left Orange County to drive down the coast to La Jolla for their last match of the season-opening trip. Playing at the University of California-San Diego on Feb. 1, Princeton had the potential to improve its 1-1 record, but they fell short at gametime.

The Tritons swept the Tigers, 3-0, though the games themselves were tight at 32-30, 30-21 and 30-26. Offensively, Princeton failed to sufficiently challenge the UCSD squad, posting a mere .292 hitting average — compared to its opponent's .409 percentage. Black led the outmatched Tiger attack with 15 kills, while Anderson gave a solid performance as an outside starter. Liljestrom managed 46 assists in the losing effort.

"All six starters played well last week, just not all at the same time," head coach Glenn Nelson said. "We're still trying to figure out who our money players are and what our money plays are. Once that happens, we'll be in good shape."

While the loss to San Diego was especially frustrating for the Tigers, they are not entirely disappointed with their intersession performance.

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"Looking back, I think I was a little disappointed at first, going 1-2," Nelson said. "But really, the two teams we lost to already had a lot of games under their belts. That definitely gave them a leg up, especially with this new format."

The format to which Nelson referred is the new rally-score game to 30, rather than the standard game to 15. Now the Tigers too have experience with this new scoring, experience which will provide a solid foundation for the upcoming season. Having left the warm rays of the California coast to return to snow-covered New Jersey, Princeton is now gearing up for its regular season play and the team is optimistic about its prospects for the spring.

"I'd say that right now we're pretty bronze," Liljestrom said. "But if we fire up and keep working hard, we should be golden."

The Tigers will travel to Spring-field, Mass., this Friday for their first east coast match against Springfield College, followed by three home games in the upcoming week.