Nittany Lions dominate Tigers in semis

The pieces simply were not in place Thursday night when the men's volleyball team traveled to No. 7 Penn State. The top-seeded Nittany Lions easily swept the Tigers in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) semifinals to end Princeton's season. While the appearance in the final four sets a strong precedent for the team going forward to next year, the match tonight was not something of which the team is proud.

"We got dominated," sophomore outside hitter Phillip Rosenberg said.

While Princeton (12-10 overall, 6-7 EIVA) arrived excited to take on the EIVA powerhouse, Penn State (21-7, 13-0) had one thing on its mind — a repeat championship.

The Nittany Lions, who will face off against St. Francis in the finals Saturday night, have history on their side. Having already clinched their 19th regular season title, Penn State leads its series with the Tigers 33-2 since the teams started playing in 1977, and it has a 51-3 record in the EIVA Championships.

From the beginning of the match, this difference was clear. The four-and-a-half hour long bus ride didn't help Princeton at the start of the game, and the Tigers were behind from the start.

"Our team just wasn't ready to play," junior captain and outside hitter Peter Eichler said. "They were ready to go and for whatever reason, whether it was the new gym or the trip, we just weren't ready."

This was clear just by looking at the first game's score, 30-16. While the Tigers have been swept in all six matches against Penn State this year, this was their worst showing of the season.

The weakness in Princeton's game all night was passing — evidenced by sophomore setter Brandon Denham's 19 assists in the match, down from his season average of 12.5 assists per game.

Eichler led the team with nine kills and 10 digs, compared to three Penn State players who had double-digit kills. Three Tigers also had negative hitting percentages for the night.

Senior middle hitter Evan Pasion provided three blocks, including one solo block, but Penn State's hitters found more holes than hands on the other side of the net.

The Nittany Lions hit over .400 in each of their games, a mark almost impossible for any team to overcome. The Tigers, on the other hand, peaked in the 30-22 second game loss with a hitting percentage of .240. The Tigers fell by the same score in the final game of the match and their 2007 season.

"We weren't clicking," Eichler said. "Even when we had the chance to convert, we didn't take it."

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Not all was lost on this road trip to Rec Hall in University Park, Pa., however. This was Princeton's first appearance in the final four in four years. Next season, the team only expects to improve on this mark.

"We are bummed but overall it has been a successful season," Eichler said after the loss. "This is not how we wanted to end, but it is progress and we have new goals for next year."

Eichler will be back leading the charge for the Tigers, who will return six players who were on the court regularly this year. The Tigers lose two starting seniors, Pasion and right side Reid Joseph. Freshman Carl Hamming is anxiously awaiting the opportunity to fill Joseph's shoes, and the Tigers will look for someone to step up and be a presence in the middle to replace Pasion.

While the match was a disappointment, the Tigers will use it as an opportunity to build off of for next year.

"[The semifinals] is where we belong — and we belong as the second seed," Eichler said. "Hopefully we can play better against Penn State in the regular season next year and change the momentum because up until now they have dominated us and we need to prove to ourselves that we can take a few games and then hopefully a match."

This goal will be a tall order next season, but with a strong core of returning players, including four sophomores who started all season, the Tigers just might rise to the occasion in the 2008 season.