A season above the net

Bump, set, spike — simple, right? For the men's volleyball team, the game is a little more complicated. As the Tigers (1-3 overall) head into regular-season play in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), its goal is to perfect that system. Supported by a strong group of youth and a core of returning players, the team hopes to smooth out the kinks and maintain focus to allow competition at the highest level. This weekend the Tigers will face their first conference tests in Juniata and St. Francis, two key matchups that will determine the pace of the season.

"[We need to] keep the energy level up and not get complacent," junior captain and outside hitter Peter Eichler said about his team's goals for this weekend.

His teammates echoed Eichler's sentiments about the need to stay focused.

"We showed signs of brilliance in California," sophomore outside hitter Philip Rosenberg said, referring to the opening four games that the team played on the West Coast. "The biggest challenge will be to make sure that we can focus throughout the match. We have one game where we play perfectly and can keep up with every team in the country, but the next two games we kind of fell apart."

The team's less-than-sterling opening record does not reveal the whole story. Princeton played a tight match against UC San Diego and faced No. 2 UC Irvine, showing the Tigers are ready to challenge the nation's best, even if they are not yet consistent enough to pull out the win.

The trip was a chance for head coach Glenn Nelson to try out different combinations of players on the court. With Eichler forced to the bench by an injury in the last two games, new players stepped up to the plate.

Nelson has been rotating through his lineup to find the best groupings, and he used 10 players at UC San Diego and 12 against UC Irvine and Cal Baptist. Flip-flopping was key as Nelson tried to see which groupings of players in which positions fit best.

"We tried a lot of different combinations in California to see what worked," Rosenberg said. While they came home with just a single win, it was evident that things were starting to click.

Given that Princeton has a large contingent of underclassmen, things can only be on the upswing. Though the Tigers are led by five upperclassmen, the core of the team is in the sophomore class, with six players returning for their second year on the team.

"Last year youth was one of the problems, but this year we are getting over the hump," Eichler said. "This year we are putting everything together and the experience of last season is helping a lot."

Sophomore setter Brandon Denham is definitely one of those aided by having a season under his belt. He recorded 115 assists in just the first three games in California.

Sophomore middle blocker Mike Vincent, who is six feet, nine inches tall, returns as the biggest man on the court and had strong performances in each of the West Coast games. Middle blocker Cameron Heggi is another sophomore option in the middle, while Rosenberg is joined by fellow outside hitters and liberos Ka'ohu Berg-Hee and Harsha Dante.

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Entering the picture this season are two freshmen, 6'7" right side and outside hitter Carl Hamming and 6'5"middle blocker Jeff McCown. Hailing from Illinois, both have already gotten opportunities to play, with Hamming recording a team-leading 32 kills in the first three games of the trip.

The team is also looking to the leadership of Eichler and his co-captain, senior outside hitter Reid Joseph, returning from an injury, to help guide the youth toward the playoffs.

"[My goals are] to be a better player, a better athlete and jump higher," Eichler said. "[I want the team] to make the playoffs and to play at a high level of volleyball."

Juniata and St. Francis will be the first league test of the team's potential. The Tigers split their first weekend last year, coming home with a win and a loss, but the team hopes to sweep its road trip this time around and storm back to Dillon Gym Tuesday night for its home opener against NYU.

"We should sweep this weekend — if we play well throughout the entire match and keep it together, we should be able to beat both of them," Rosenberg said. "We just need to keep the intensity up."