Men's volleyball drops two league contests

The men's volleyball team suffered a pair of tough losses in the first weekend of the new semester. After taking Rutgers-Newark to five games, Princeton fell to Juniata in three straight games for an 0-2 start to its league season.

The Tigers (1-4 overall, 0-2 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) traveled to Newark to face the Scarlet Raiders (3-3, 2-1). The contest was Princeton's first league match of the season.

Rutgers-Newark came out strong to claim the first two games by two points apiece. To the Tigers' credit, they showed heart in fighting back from a 2-0 deficit to take the next two games and force a fifth.

Princeton could not complete the comeback, though. The Scarlet Raiders snatched momentum back from their opponents in the decisive fifth game. They won the first points and kept ahead of the Tigers from then on to take a 15-8 victory in the game and a 3-2 win in the match.

Rutgers-Newark took the match by scores of 31-29, 30-28, 25-30, 23-30 and 15-8.

"We just kind of died in the fifth game," freshman outside hitter Peter Eichler said. "It's important in the fifth game to start out strong, and we didn't come out with the same fire that we had in the third and fourth games."

Senior outside hitter Blake Robinson led the team with 22 kills and four blocks for the match.

Two days later the Tigers were unable to rally against powerhouse Juniata, who incidentally had fallen to Rutgers-Newark on Jan. 29.

Though he's been at Princeton for only six months, Eichler already knows all about Princeton's intense competition with the Eagles, who he calls the Tigers' "arch-rivals."

This time, his team's nemesis came out on top. With Princeton ahead in the first game, 28-24, Juniata took a timeout that changed the pace of the game for good. The Eagles surged ahead and scored the next five points, eventually taking the game, 31-29.

The Tigers never could recapture the lead after they dropped that first game. Juniata stayed just ahead of Princeton during the entire second game, which the Eagles won by a 30-27 score.

After a 10-2 Juniata run to open the third game, the Tigers' fate was all but sealed. The Eagles went on to a 30-19 victory in that game for a final day's competition.

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"The Haverford match wasn't that difficult, but I think it bodes well for the rest of the season," Sherman said. "Their team isn't as strong as some of our opponents, but they have some individually tough fencers. In sabre, our guys matched up well against their fencer, Flanders, who finished well at the NCAA championships last year."

The men's upcoming match pits the Tigers against Ivy competitor Penn.

Though Princeton won the match against the Quakers last year, the game was decided by a one-point difference.

"Our meet with Penn has been difficult in the past, and this match should be no different," Sherman said. "We won our match last year by only one bout, 14-13. Still, we are the better team, and while the match will be close, I'm confident that we'll come away with the victory."