Strong middle offense leads to win

The Scarlet Raiders may have wanted to steal from the Tigers' den, but the mens' volleyball team rose up and foiled their plans on the road Tuesday night at The Golden Dome. With the victory, the Tigers advanced to 2-1 overall and hit the .500 mark with four wins and four losses overall. The most notable aspects of the game, though, were the all-around attack and strong defense that Princeton showcased throughout the match.

The Tigers went into the game as the favorite over Rutgers-Newark (2-10 overall, 0-4 EIVA), but they still made sure to secure the match by employing all aspects of their game.

Sophomore setter Brandon Denham served up 60 assists, as the Tigers shared the responsibility for defending the den. Junior captain and outside hitter Peter Eichler led the pack with 16 kills, with sophomore outside hitter Phillip Rosenberg adding 14 of his own.

Even more impressive than the performance from the outside of Princeton's offense was the strong play in the middle. This combination set the tone early and helped the Tigers put together perhaps their best performance thus far this season.

Sophomore middle blocker Mike Vincent rallied off his impressive finish against Cornell, where he was responsible for four of the last seven points in the match, including the winning ace. Vincent tallied 12 kills with a .200 hitting percentage in one of his best matches as a Tiger. He also led the team with two blocks.

Senior middle hitter Evan Pasion added seven kills on eight attempts, along with one block and four block assists.

Senior outside hitter Reid Joseph led the team with six block assists. Except for sophomore defensive-specialist libero Ka'ohu Berg-Hee, who as a libero isn't allowed to block, all of the Tigers who took the court added defense at the net. The Tigers had 15 blocks as a team.

The tight defense allowed the Tigers to use a more comprehensive attack, with Denham going to all of his options throughout the match.

"Our middle were established early, which helped free up the outsides," Rosenberg said. "Also, in the second game in particular, [Denham] did a good job of moving the ball around, which freed up our hitters a lot."

By capitalizing on the strength in the middle, Princeton was also able to put together a very impressive defensive match, which is not normally its strength.

"Our blocking and defense, although still improving, helped us out a lot tonight," Eichler said in an email. "When we weren't getting the blocks down, we still found a way to get the ball up on our side fairly often so that was a big help."

Berg-Hee and Eichler led the team with eight digs each.

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The combination of the well-rounded offensive attack and solid defensive play gave Princeton a comfortable three to four point cushion during much of the match. The Tigers won 30-24, 30-26 and 30-24 in the first, second and fourth games respectively.

The Scarlet Raiders put the Tigers to the test in the third game, finding a way to shut down the Princeton offense and keeping it under a .100 hitting percentage, compared to their above .300 hitting percentage in the rest of the match. The Raiders took the third game, 28-30.

"They shut down our offense and pulled out a few tight points at the end of the third game to force a fourth," Eichler said. "After the third game, we just all looked around at each other, and everyone knew how badly we wanted to beat them and get out of there. After that, it was just picking up our offense, minimizing errors, and about halfway through the fourth game we were coasting."

While it is still early in the season, the win was a good finish to Princeton's EIVA road trip. This Friday, the Tigers will open conference play at home in Dillon Gym when they host Penn State — a team heavily favored to take the EIVA Championship.

No. 5 in the nation, Penn State will arrive at Dillon Gym undefeated in conference play and 7-2 overall. In order to come up with an upset, Princeton will have to come out strong once again on all fronts. The Tigers will look to bring the momentum from Tuesday's game home on Friday.