Third time's the charm? Not so for the men's volleyball team. While the Tigers kept up with No. 5 Penn State much better in the third game than in the first, the learning curve was too high Friday as the Tigers fell in straight games on their home court.
The Nittany Lions (8-2 overall, 4-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) demonstrated why they are heavily favored to take the EIVA's Tait Division championship this season, coming into the match with all the momentum of a seven-match winning streak behind them. Princeton (4-5, 2-2) could not slow them down and fell 17-30, 23-30, 22-30.
"I think our team knows how to match Penn State," junior captain outside hitter Peter Eichler said. "We just don't do it when they're on the other side of the net. Next time we face them we can't be too impressed by them — yes, they have a good program, but if we play our game on our side of the net we can not only play with them but we can [also] beat them."
Princeton caught the Nittany Lions off-guard with a service ace from sophomore setter Brandon Denham to take the first point of the match, but the Nittany Lions dominated the first game after that. They took a 1-2 lead after a kill and a Princeton error and never let the Tigers get close.
Penn State amassed an early lead, jumping ahead to 6-16. The Tigers managed to keep the deficit relatively constant from there but never got within nine points. The Nittany Lions had an answer for everything the Tigers sent over the net, with 15 kills and zero errors in the first game.
The match got more competitive in the second and third games, as the Tigers slowed down the Nittany Lions from hitting .714 in the first game to hitting .439 overall.
Penn State took the first three points of the second game with a service ace and two Princeton errors, but a kill from Eichler gave the Tigers the energy to tie the score. The Tigers kept pace with the Nittany Lions, tying the score again at 5-5 and taking the lead with a service ace from junior middle hitter R.J. Liljestrom.
The game remained tied at 7-7, but from there the Tigers lost their grip and let the Nittany Lions take a 9-17 lead. The Tigers were able to gain slightly on Penn State when two kills and a block from sophomore middle blocker Mike Vincent on consecutive plays cut the Nittany Lions' lead down to just five points at 17-22. But this was the closest the Tigers got as Penn State ran away to a 23-30 victory.
The Tigers held on much longer in the third set, though the outcome was similar. The game started with another ace from Denham, who led the Tigers in aces by contributing two of the team's six; he also led the team in digs with five of the team's 19. Penn State had 13 total aces and 26 total digs.
While the Tigers only took the lead once in each of the first two games, they took it six times in the third and finally started getting some energy. After making seven errors in the first game and 10 in the second, they made just six errors in the third. The squad also made 13 of its 32 total kills. In the final game Vincent made six of his team-leading 10 kills on the last round. He also led the Tigers in blocks, making two of the team's three. Penn State tallied 11 blocks.
The most striking improvement of the match was in the Tigers' attack percentage — after hitting just .042 in the first game and .032 in the second, the Tigers improved to .250 in the third. Still, their total percentage of .108 did not compare well with that of Penn State, and in the end the third game went the same way as the first two.
"We got more relaxed as the game progressed and we were able to play better volleyball," senior captain and outside hitter Reid Joseph said. "We need to work on being more consistent and keep[ing] our intensity high — with big momentum swings it is hard to psychologically rally back."
Neither team gained a significant lead for most of the third game until the score was tied at 19-19. At that point, Princeton had held on as long as it could, and Penn State capitalized on service aces and Princeton errors to take the match.
The Tigers will stay in Dillon Gym to face their next five opponents, starting with East Stroudsburg University next Saturday, after which they will hit the road to take a second crack at Penn State.
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