Men's Volleyball: Princeton gets three vs. NJIT

Last night, the men’s volleyball team got revenge for both.

The Tigers (5-4 overall, 2-1 EIVA Tait) squeaked out three close games, defeating the hosting Highlanders (3-5, 0-4) 30-26, 34-32, 30-28 for their fourth straight victory. Sophomore outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli led Princeton with 14 kills, with junior rightside hitter Carl Hamming killing 13 and senior middle blocker Mike Vincent recording 10. Senior libero Ka’ohu Berg-Hee picked up eight digs, while senior setter and captain Brandon Denham had a game-high 41 assists.

“We wanted revenge from last season, no doubt about it,” Denham said. “We still remember losing last year in the quarterfinals.”

A problem that plagued Princeton last season against NJIT was receiving serve, and the graduation of outside hitter Peter Eichler ’08 — arguably last season’s best passer — would not make things any easier. Instead, the Tigers conceded only one receiving error all night en route to the sweep.

“We passed really well,” Denham said. “[The game scores] seem close, but really we were in control the whole time. We knew we could win. We just had to go out there and do it.”

The set started close, but Princeton earned a 17-12 lead after an ace from senior outside hitter Phil Rosenberg and a block by Denham and Vincent. NJIT narrowed the gap to two as late as 24-22 in the set, but a kill by junior middle blocker Jeff McCown and two more from Hamming stretched the lead, and the Orange and Black held on for a four-point victory.

The second game was the most competitive, as it forced Princeton to dig itself out from an early hole. A 6-2 run by NJIT got it a 13-7 lead, an advantage the hosts maintained as late as 22-16. Kills by Tuminelli, Rosenberg and McCown brought the Tigers to within two, and an NJIT attack error and blocks from McCown and Hamming knotted the score at 27. A Tiger service error handed the Highlanders their first game point of the evening, but Princeton fought back to earn three of its own before finally putting away the fourth, a block by McCown and Tuminelli for a 34-32 win.

“To be honest, we just wanted to win more,” Denham said. “It wasn’t perfect, but we made plays when we had to. It was a good overall performance, but it mostly just came down to who wanted it more, and that was us.”

A close third game almost saw a reversal of fortunes. Tuminelli put Princeton up 25-20, but NJIT reeled off eight of 11 points to knot the score at 28. On the next play, however, the six-foot, seven-inch Hamming pulled off a solo block for match point, with Vincent killing a bad NJIT pass to seal the win.

Princeton outhit NJIT .336 to .227 and picked up four aces to the home team’s one. The Tigers recorded more blocks, as Hamming and McCown led the way with six and five, respectively.

But the close win was by no means perfect. Of the 86 total points scored by NJIT, 27 — almost a third — came from Princeton service errors. It is a recurring problem — the Tigers missed 19 serves against Rutgers-Newark and 23 against NYU — but last night’s woes seemed especially painful.

“We missed a ton of serves today,” Denham said. “We gave away a lot of free points.”

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The Tigers are off until Friday, when they host EIVA Tait foe Juniata in Dillon Gym. On Feb. 6, Juniata capitalized on momentum from a tight first-game win to sweep the Tigers, so more revenge might be in store this weekend.

“Obviously more important is the league standings,” Denham said. “But, yes, [revenge] would be nice, too.”

If Princeton is lucky, the team will see more solid performances from its best players as it seeks to avenge its loss to Juniata.