Tigers stay unbeaten at Dillon Gym

“It’s always good to win,” Eichler said.

The Tigers (4-5 overall, 1-3 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) jumped out to an early lead keyed by Vincent and Eichler’s serves. Vincent exploited his height advantage against a much smaller Mercyhurst front line to help Princeton generate an early 23-15 lead in the first game. The Tigers quickly finished off the Lakers (2-11) in the first game, going on a 7-1 run to end the game 30-16.

“We needed a confidence boost after last weekend,” Vincent said.

Eichler’s hot serving streak continued into the second game, but a significant mental error gave the serve back to Mercyhurst. The Lakers, however, suffered from poor serving throughout the match, which ultimately cost them the second game, as they repeatedly hit the ball out of bounds. Fueled by blocks from Vincent, the Tigers took a 9-7 lead. Mercyhurst’s trouble keeping the ball in bounds — both serving and spiking — cost it a critical number of points.

A key block by sophomore middle blocker Jeff McCown brought the score to 16-10. But the Lakers would come back, aided by a Princeton carry, bringing the score to 19-17. Both teams seemed listless toward the end of the second game, and neither seemed to want the win, but the Tigers overcame their slugishness to take the second game 30-26.

“I think we were stalling [at the end of the second game], but we always felt in control,” Eichler said. “We made a few too many mistakes.”

A fiery outburst from head coach Glenn Nelson kept the Tigers in the third game, as they went down early 8-7. Princeton stayed in the game, though, and came back to take a 12-9 lead. It kept the pressure on by extending that lead to 20-13 before the Lakers took a timeout. That did not stop the Tiger onslaught, as Princeton soon took a 25-19 lead. A 5-1 run closed out the game, as the Tigers won 30-20 to cap a 3-0 victory over Mercyhurst.

Princeton’s blocking was one of the deciding factors in its victory, likely caused by the time spent in practice working on its blocking game. Now, however, focus must shift to its serving game, as key out-of-bounds serves and mishaps at the line almost cost the Tigers late in the match.

“We always work on serving,” Vincent said. “We do a lot of serving every practice.”

While his teammates struggled, Vincent’s serving game was dead on as was the rest of his offensive game. While Eichler led the Tigers with 13 kills, Vincent was not far behind, earning a .600 attack percentage, 11 kills of his own and three service aces.

The Tigers are now in the third game of a two-week, seven-game home stand. On Friday they face off against Stevens Institute of Technology, and on Saturday they will play Tait Division rival George Mason. They look to continue their current win streak and to build momentum before tough games against St. Francis and Penn State at home March 7 and 8.