M. volleyball buries St. Francis, George Mason to revive season

The men's volleyball team went through the most critical three-game stretch of the season this break, raising itself from the dead after a loss to Juniata and salvaging its season with heart-wrenching wins against St. Francis and George Mason.

With the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule winding down, the Tigers headed into Spring Break needing to win two of three games to keep themselves in the running for the league's No. 4 seed and the first-round home advantage that comes with it.

Of the three teams the Tigers faced, only St. Francis — hardly a pushover — had already fallen in a solid Princeton road win earlier in the year. Both Juniata and George Mason had beaten the Tigers in their first matches. Of the two teams to which Princeton lost, Mason had lost in EIVA competition only to league leader Penn State and would face the Tigers on its home court in Virginia, while Juniata had more losses and would come to play at Dillon. If Princeton was to beat either of these teams, it seemed that it would have to be Juniata. Expecting a hard-fought match, a huge crowd showed up to watch Friday's game.

They got what they came for. With playoff position on everyone's mind, the Eagles and Tigers squared off March 14 with a seriousness that belied the megaphone-equipped and Juniata-harassing Princeton fans. The Eagles took the first game, 33-31, but the Tigers came right back with an impressive 30-24 win in game two. As game three wound down with the score still close and cameras flashing on every serve, Juniata began to pull away. The Tigers battled back to 27-27, but even with critical individual plays by sophomore middle Sean Vitousek and his classmate outside Blake Robinson, their efforts were in vain. The Eagles closed out a 30-28 victory.

With their backs to the wall, the Tigers threw everything they had at Juniata in the critical fourth game, achieving a lead of 22-17 behind Vitousek's blocking and Robinson's and senior opposite Dennis Alshuler's hitting. Somehow the Eagles stayed in the game, even though the Tigers fought off their first rally with two critical serves by freshman opposite Jack Pichard. Again Juniata came back, however, and this time Princeton was powerless to stop them. Though the Tigers led, 29-26, the Eagles managed to take all of the next five points and the match, in what to outsiders was a brilliant comeback but to Princeton fans sounded like the death-knell of the team's post-season hopes.

Though the Tigers' chances of a No. 4 seed were reduced, they had not disappeared entirely, and Princeton kept itself in contention by sweeping away St. Francis in the next day's game. That match saw the volleyball debut of senior basketball star Ray Robbins, who acquitted himself nicely and added even more size to the already intimidating Princeton squad. It also provided the Tigers with the essential EIVA win, as the team hit St. Francis out of the gym, 30-23, 31-29, 30-24. Alshuler and sophomore outside Ryn Burns led the squad with 12 and nine kills, respectively, and junior setter Jason Liljestrom directed an attack that finished with a .350 hitting percentage. The stage was set for the showdown with Mason.

In their last match-up on Feb. 22, the Patriots had come into Dillon and handed the Tigers a 3-1 loss in Princeton's home opener. Powerhouse or no powerhouse, it was payback time. With his senior season on the line, Alshuler took command, delivering five digs, a team-leading 19 kills and an incredible .586 hitting percentage.

His teammates came up with big performances as well, producing not just the needed victory but a 3-0 sweep of the team that had previously lost only to nationally ranked opponents. Though the Patriots started out with early leads in both of the first two games, Tiger comebacks left the final scores standing at a comfortable 30-24 and 30-23. Mason made one final attempt at holding off the Princeton fury, keeping game three a series of ties and small leads until Alshuler's final kill and a pair of errors polished them off, 30-27. With that win, the Tigers put themselves back in the running for the final home spot.

There can be no nitpicking about small problems after a match like this, and there are too many stats of great performance to list them all. Simply put, the Tigers produced their best win of the season when they needed it the most. In sports, there are few more impressive feats than that.