M. volleyball battles Rutgers to a tight, 3-2 loss

Crushing Rutgers in the first game, the Scarlet Knights came back and won three of the final four games, to beat the Tigers, 3-2..

Going into the final game tied, 2-2, the Tigers had the chance to win their second straight, but Rutgers was too strong in the fifth game, and pulled out a 15-13 win.

Sophomore Blake Robinson led the Tigers with 21 kills on the night. Senior Dennis Alshuler was second on the team with 18 kills, but their combined success was not enough to pull out a win, as the Tigers fell just short in the final game.

Weekend games

After 10 straight games on the road across both coasts, the men's volleyball team finally returned home this weekend. Bus companies everywhere were devastated.

The Tigers' first match-up of the weekend promised to be their most difficult conference test yet, as they faced off with George Mason, a team that came in unbeaten in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Assocition. Princeton came out roaring, winning the first game, 30-27. Their statement made, the Tigers dug in and prepared for the recovery it seemed certain the Eagles would make. And recover they did.

The second game of the match was a nerve-wracking struggle the entire way, with superb play by both teams keeping any lead within two over the final ten points. With the score tied, 27-27, George Mason finally appeared to break away by winning two consecutive points to go up 29-27. Princeton fought back into the game on sheer grit, finally returning the score to a 29-29 tie. Emotion was pulsing through Dillon Gym as the two teams fought their way to 30-30, every point the difference between being one step from victory or one from elimination.

The end was anticlimactic, as George Mason turned a 30-31 advantage into a 30-32 victory with a little help from a controversial out-of-bounds call. Unfortunately, there would be no comeback.

The Eagles led the entirety of game three, and although the Tigers closed the gap to within two, the errors they had committed early on eventually made George Mason's lead insurmountable. Princeton was still in the match, but the effort of the first three games had been exhausting. Game four proved little different from the third, as once again the Eagles led most of the way and warded off a late Princeton comeback to win 30-25. Outside hitter Robinson led the Tigers with 21 kills on the day, while junior setter Jason Liljestrom recorded 51 assists.

Things took a turn for the better in Princeton's next match of the weekend, against lowly but always fun-to-beat Harvard. The Crimson play a division below George Mason and the Tigers, and it showed as Sunday's game was not as...well, pretty. Ugly would be a better word for some of it, as the smaller Harvard team was simply outclassed by Princeton and seemed to be staying alive only by confusing the Tigers with their disorderly shenanigans.

These antics paid off, as the Crimson actually managed to take game two, 30-21, after the Tigers had stomped them in game one. They also kept game three close, as Princeton's defense struggled while Harvard seemed to be able to create a dig out of every Tiger attack. Eventually Princeton put the Crimson in their place, closing out game three 35-33 and the final game 30-28. Robinson and opposite Alshuler were the main beneficiaries of Liljestrom's 64 assists as the two combined for a massive 48 kills.

Although beating Harvard does have its intangible benefits, coach Glenn Nelson was not happy with the overall result.

"That was the first time Harvard's taken a game from us in five years," he said. "That's not the kind of message we want to send."