M. volleyball pulverizes NJIT in its season finale

The past, present and future of men's volleyball were all on display this weekend, and if the match was any indication, the team's opponents this week and for the next three years should be wetting their collective pants right now.

Saturday's match brought New Jersey Institute of Technology (5-19) to Dillon Gym for Princeton's (15-10) final home game of the year. With the Tigers' playoff standing already confirmed, the real purpose of this matchup was to serve as a springboard for the beginning of the team's quest for an Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship.

Head coach Glenn Nelson was able to spread the minutes around, freshman middle Brian Hamming dominated, and senior opposite and captain Dennis Alshuler turned in a fitting final home performance as Princeton grabbed a victory in three games.

Having spanked the Highlanders in the two teams' only other match this season, the Tigers had a little more freedom to operate this time around. The crowd clearly wanted the ball to go to Alshuler as he closed out his volleyball career, and he delivered the goods. Alshuler finished with 11 kills and a brilliant .688 hitting percentage, high numbers that still don't do justice to how every one of his spikes managed to make NJIT's defense seem nonexistent.

Future star

In a forecast of good volleyball days yet to come, freshman middle Brian Hamming made it clear that he will be able to soften the blow from Alshuler's imminent departure. Hamming produced an amazing 15 kills on only 17 attempts. It's always fun to play the Highlanders.

Still, the fun can't really begin until the team is in control of the outcome of the match. But Princeton did that beautifully. NJIT was never close in game one, as the Tigers held on to a controlling lead of at least five points the entire match. The Highlanders had no answer for Princeton's massive size advantage, and were quickly forced to resort to tap hits rather than challenge the Tiger blockers directly. Junior setter Jason Liljestrom divvied up the passes with precision, racking up 42 assists and finding Princeton attackers who completely overpowered the hapless NJIT squad. Towards the end of the game, Nelson was even able to bring in freshman Mark Stevens, usually a libero, and give him a chance to polish off the Highlanders with two of the final three kills of the game.

'Beat It'

Game two was no different. Alshuler and Hamming were joined by 14 powerful kills from sophomore outside Blake Robinson, as NJIT continued its futile efforts to hang with the prolific Tiger attack. With the score at 25-13 and Princeton about to take total control of the match, the Highlanders called a timeout. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, whoever was in charge of music put on Michael Jackson's "Beat It." As the Tigers cruised to a 30-16 victory, one couldn't help but think that NJIT was wishing it could take Mike's advice.

The Highlanders showed no sign of giving up, however. They actually jumped out to an 8-3 lead in game three, as their tap-hitting began to show some effect against the Princeton defense.

The only thing that kept the game close early on was NJIT's three service errors, but by the midway point the Tigers had fought back to take a 16-14 lead. Sophomore middle Sean Vitousek stuffed everything the Highlanders threw up on offense, and the Princeton hitters rocketed kills right through their opponent's defense to propel the Tigers into a comfortable lead.

In spite of their early struggles, the Tigers closed off the game and the match by a score of 30-24. The game ended in the only fitting way it could, as fans hoisted Alshuler on their shoulders at the final whistle.

Princeton plays its next game on the road in the first round of the EIVA tournament against the No. 1 seed, Juniata College (17-8). That game will be close, but Juniata is the favorite since they beat the Tigers twice this season already, both by a score of three games to one.