Defeats could hurt seeding in end of year tournament

The men's volleyball team took a punishing tour through Pennsylvania this weekend, as No. 6 Penn State (16-5 overall, 9-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) tripped up the Tigers (8-8, 6-5) with a sweep on Friday and East Stroudsburg (8-9, 3-5) kicked them while they were down the next day in a four-game triumph.

The losses dropped Princeton from second to fourth in its division with only one conference game remaining and seeding for the EIVA tournament looming just two weeks away.

Just as they did when the teams met in Dillon Gym in February, the Nittany Lions made quick work of the Tigers. This time, the win came on their home court in State College, Pa., where Princeton has not won a single game — let alone a match — in nearly a decade.

The loss dropped the Tigers' EIVA record to 6-4 and moved the Nittany Lions within one win of clinching the first seed in the EIVA tournament and home-court advantage throughout. Princeton did manage to cut down the deficit from its last Penn State match, picking up 73 total points compared to the 62 it registered in the last meeting.

"I think we are getting better at handling Penn State," junior captain and outside hitter Peter Eichler said. "Especially in the first two games of the match, we got on some good runs and took small leads — but it's at that point that we need to step on the accelerator and try to build an even bigger lead, and we failed to do that against Penn State once again."

The first game started out even until two consecutive Penn State aces put the Nittany Lions up 18-15. Consecutive kills and another ace brought the lead to seven points at 28-21. Princeton battled back to 28-24, but Penn State closed the game, 30-25.

The Tigers again started well in the second game, going on a seven-point run to take the lead 8-5. The Nittany Lions evened the score at eight, though, and the teams stayed neck-and-neck until a kill and two aces put Penn State up 19-14. That lead was extended to six, and the Nittany Lions put the game away, 30-24.

Penn State ran away with the third game, breaking a 4-4 tie with an eight-point run to take the lead, 12-4. The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 11 points at 25-14 before five consecutive Princeton points cut the Tiger deficit to six. That scoring gap would ultimately hold in a 30-24 win to put away the match.

Three Nittany Lions had double-digit kills in the game, and Penn State hit at .337 overall to Princeton's .065. If the Tigers can clinch the second seed in the EIVA tournament, they could still get one more crack at the Nittany Lions in the conference title game.

On Saturday, East Stroudsburg made the Tigers' quest for second place even more difficult, defeating Princeton in four games. The Warriors took the match 30-25, 30-21, 23-30, 30-18, avenging its March 3 sweep by the Tigers.

"We weren't physically or mentally ready for East Stroudsburg," Eichler said. "We were looking past them and forgot to play the match, and that was a costly mistake."

Sophomore outside hitter Phillip Rosenberg led the Tigers in kills in both games, with eight against Penn State and 12 against East Stroudsburg. Eichler was right behind him with seven kills against the Nittany Lions and 11 against the Warriors. Sophomore middle blocker Mike Vincent posted team-high block totals in both contests, with five Friday and four on Saturday.

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The Tigers will play non-conference games against NYU and NJIT this week before traveling to Fairfax, Va., on April 14 for their final EIVA game of the season against George Mason. Last time the teams played, the Patriots went home with a 3-1 victory.

George Mason is in third place in the division at 4-3 with four home division games in the next two weeks, including games against Penn State and East Stroudsburg.

The Tigers have to hope the Patriots take as bad a turn against these teams as they did, or Princeton will have a difficult path through the postseason tournament.