Men's volleyball shuts out Concordia; Penn St. awaits

Like it or not, revenge is an integral part of sports. There are few things more satisfying than payback; it is the salt on the meat of victory. Add to that the sense of urgency that comes when a team's playoff hopes are on the line, and you can transform a team into an almost unstoppable force. The men's volleyball squad found itself with both these motivations on the agenda against Concordia College Wednesday. Woe to the poor team that found itself standing in their way.

Coming off a tantalizingly close loss to Rutgers-Newark last week, the Tigers (14-9 overall, 7-6 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) squared off against another rival in the Eagles (9-14, 5-7) on Wednesday night. Still smarting from the loss to the Eagles last year, Princeton meted out its revenge in three games at Concordia's gym in Bronxville, N.Y. The victory keeps the Tigers in contention with Juniata College for the fourth playoff spot in the EIVA.

From the first game on, the match was under Princeton's control. The Eagles are always a worthy opponent but have had a disappointing season and are not the team that twice defeated the Tigers last year. Still, they managed to keep the score close, particularly in early action. Princeton came out on top, 30-26, in game one and warded off Concordia in game two with a narrow 31-29 victory.

The biggest troubles for the Tigers came not from anything the Eagles did but from their own mental errors, often a difficulty for the young squad. The team also struggled a little with "bringing the hammer down" — that is, with closing the deal — on their opponents, a problem that played a role in Rutgers' comeback from two games down to win, 3-2, in last week's match. In the end, however, it did not matter.

"The first and third games were close," senior opposite Dennis Alshuler said. "We'd go up and let them back in it, but once the score got past twenty we'd close it down."

The Tigers wrapped up the match in a sweep with a 30-24 score in game three. The return of sophomore outside hitter Blake Robinson, who missed the Rutgers-Newark game due to illness, was crucial to the team's success as he dropped 16 kills on the hapless Eagles. Alshuler followed with 12 kills, and the rest of the team came up with solid performances in what can only be described as a well-executed victory.

As nice as it is to get a sweep, however, the victory against Concordia was not exactly unexpected. Princeton won, 3-1, in the teams' first meeting this year and came in with little doubt of who deserved to win the match. Still, the victory holds one very significant benefit for the Tigers: they have now virtually locked up fifth place in the EIVA Tait Division and in all likelihood can only go up from there.

Unfortunately, gaining ground in the division standings is a very tall order at the moment. Princeton has only two regular season games remaining: an away game at Penn State on Friday and one at home against New Jersey Institute of Technology next Saturday.

Penn State (19-5, 11-0) is unbeaten in the EIVA and is currently ranked ninth in the nation. In the EIVA, there is only one Goliath, and he comes in the form of a Nittany Lion. So short of a miracle, what would it take to slay this beast?

Basically, it would take the team's best performance of the year. The Tigers took one game away from Penn State in Princeton's home opener, but they are now, pardon the pun, walking into the lion's den. If, however, Princeton plays a nearly perfect game and does get the win, the benefits would be well worth the effort. A victory at Penn State is the only way the team can overtake Juniata in the race for a No. 4 postseason seed, which comes with home advantage in the first round.

Can the team do it? Only time will tell. Even if the Tigers fall to the Nittany Lions, they will still make the playoffs with a fifth or sixth seed. And if the NCAA men's basketball tournament has taught us nothing else, it's that it doesn't matter where you start as long as you make it to the show.