Men's volleyball dominates overmatched Springfield

What does it say about a team when its own fans turn against it? Well, it could mean that you have some of the most disloyal fans in sports. Or, if you are the men's volleyball team, it means that your opponent is losing so badly that it's just not worth it to taunt them anymore, so your own fans have resorted to heckling you instead.

Such was the case Friday night at Dillon Gym, as the Tigers crushed visiting Springfield in three straight games, 30-17, 30-16, 30-25, amidst the jeers of their own loyal fan club.

Right from the start, Princeton dominated both at the net and in the deep court, rarely allowing the Pride to score more than two points in a row. Springfield's repeated missed serves and unforced hitting errors helped the Tigers maintain a substantial lead throughout the entire match. Taking full advantage of the weak Springfield defense, Princeton tooled the block, drilled the ball down the line and served the Pride off the court. Freshman setter Jason Liljestrom — who tallied 35 assists in the sweep — capitalized on the chance to mix up the attack, shifting the ball along the net from left to middle to right, as well as catching Springfield off guard with repeated dumps.

"We played a lot better defense than we have been," Liljestrom said. "And that really helped us out. Winning like this is definitely a confidence booster for us."

Offensively, junior middle Scott Dore led the quick attack with eight kills while senior outside hitter Blair Anderson and sophomore opposite Dennis Alshuler contributed seven each for the win.

With the comfortable lead, head coach Glenn Nelson took the opportunity to vary the lineup, subbing in several non-starters throughout the match. Coming off the bench in the second game, junior middle Joel Moxley took control at 29-16, tooling the ball off the Springfield outside for his first kill and the win. Toward the end of game three, Moxley, freshman setter Jing Ge and freshman opposite Ben Fong subbed in for Dore, Liljestrom and Alshuler, respectively, to finish the match.

The victory is a sure sign of improvement for the Tigers, who are now 6-6 overall, 5-4 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division. Friday marked the second time Princeton has faced Springfield (2-11, 0-11 EIVA Tait) this season, having beaten them in February, though not as decisively as this time around.

"It was a great match for us tonight," Nelson said. "The Rutgers win last week was a big one for us, and we knew we just needed to maintain here tonight. We struggled a bit with [Springfield] when we played them before, but tonight we just blew them out."

Having entered the second half of league play, the Tigers are now fifth in the league with six games left before the playoffs. They must wait a while, however, for the chance to move up in the ranks. The Tigers have a two week hiatus until their next match, which is against Juniata Friday, March 30 at home.