Eichler injury cramps Princeton

Junior captain Peter Eichler and the rest of the men's volleyball squad (1-3 overall) expected fierce play when they headed out to California for a four-game stretch to begin the season. What Eichler, an outside hitter, surely did not expect, was the added adversity of a split-open chin which sidelined him for the last two matches.

The Tigers managed to secure a victory and fill the goose egg in their win column to close out the road trip after three consecutive losses, even while missing Eichler on the court.

The squad first faced Cal-Baptist (9-4), a top-notch National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) champion team, on Jan. 29 in Riverside, Calif., to open the season. Princeton managed to eke out the second game, 30-23, before dropping the next two to lose the match three games to one. Freshman right-side middle hitter Carl Hamming — who stands six feet, seven inches — led the squad with 15 kills in his first official collegiate match. Hamming is one of just two freshmen to join the Tigers this season, following in the footsteps of his brother Brian Hamming '06.

"[Against] Cal-Baptist we were really happy with how we played," sophomore setter Brandon Denham said. "We took a game off of them, which we didn't do last year."

The competition remained stiff as the Tigers squared off against No. 2 UC-Irvine (11-2) the next night in Irvine, Calif. The relatively young Tiger squad could not win a game against the Anteaters. Denham, who had 68 total assists over the first two games, Eichler, sophomore middle blocker Mike Vincent, sophomore outside hitter Ka'ohu Berg-Hee and Hamming were the only Tigers to play in all three games of the match. Despite relative inexperience, Denham noted the alacrity with which the team is adapting and working together in the still fluid lineup.

"We only have one junior starting," Denham said. "We're still not even sure if we're going to have a senior starting. We're a very young team, and we're building up a lot right now. So, this is going to be a good building year and we should actually probably do better than last year — and next year we should be really good."

During the Irvine match, Eichler suffered his injury and could not play in the Tigers' next matchup on Jan. 31 against UC-San Diego (3-7) in San Diego, Calif. Princeton managed to secure the first game in a close 30-28 battle but could not repeat the feat as UCSD coasted on to win the following games 30-21, 30-25 and 31-29.

Despite the loss, sophomore outside hitter Phillip Rosenberg and Hamming stepped up to combine for 26 kills, and Vincent went on to lead starters with a .350 attacking percentage. Denham stayed strong at setter and managed 47 assists in the match without Eichler on the court.

"We didn't have him, and I think we felt we could have won that game," Denham said.

Princeton's hard work finally paid off as the Tigers took Hope International down in four games on Feb. 1 to close out the road trip in Fullerton, Calif. The Tigers are looking ahead to the return of Eichler, who averaged 3.85 kills per contest last year, on Feb. 9 against Juniata in Huntingdon, Pa., but in the meantime, they know they have plenty to work on.

"We've got to focus on our serving. We missed a lot of serves," Denham said. "Our passing is slowly improving. So, those are improvements to make."

With senior outside hitter Reid Joseph playing again after a shoulder injury sidelined him last year, the Tigers will be at full strength once Eichler returns.