Men's Volleyball: Tigers defeat NYU in the Big Apple

Tuesday night in New York, it was a similar story for the first two games, as Princeton (8-8 overall, 2-3 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) struggled to establish momentum against the pesky Violets (6-19, 2-5 EIVA Hay Division).

Then, the Tigers flipped a switch and left NYU in the dust, dominating the last two games and rolling to a 3-1 victory.

“We played pretty well,” senior setter Brandon Denham said. “We had a long break during spring break, so we hadn’t really gotten it together until the last couple games.”

Junior rightside hitter Carl Hamming led the Tigers with 15 kills while adding five blocks and hitting .500. Sophomore outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli contributed 12 kills, and Denham added a game-high 53 assists.

In the first game, the Violets were determined to jump out to an early advantage on their home court.

The play was back and forth early on, with NYU taking a 14-13 lead midway through the first game.

Senior middle blocker Mike Vincent sparked a small Princeton run, recording a kill and then winning three straight points on his serve to give the Tigers a 17-14 lead and force an NYU timeout.

From there, the teams continued to trade points until a Hamming kill gave Princeton the first game by a slim 30-27 margin.

As a team, the Tigers recorded 15 kills and only one error for a .583 hitting percentage in the game.

Denham said that the Tigers were able to adjust their style of play in order to secure the win.

“We took care of business,” Denham said. “We were a lot better than them. We kind of came out flat and then realized that we needed to play a little bit better, and we did.”

In the second game, the Tigers were plagued by the same bout of inconsistency that they have struggled with all season.

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After fighting its way to an early 4-3 lead, Princeton dropped six straight points to give the Violets a 9-4 edge.

Though the Tigers fought back to tie the score at 15 behind kills from Hamming and senior outside hitter Phil Rosenberg, they failed to keep NYU from evening the match at a game apiece.

The Violets closed the second game on a 7-1 run en route to a 30-25 win. The game was undoubtedly Princeton’s worst of the match.

The Tigers had a paltry .135 hitting percentage, recording 14 kills and nine errors, more than they hit in the other sets combined.

Princeton let it be known early in the third game that its error-prone ways of the previous set were a thing of the past. The Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 lead and later used an 8-1 run to take an insurmountable 22-13 lead.

Consistent serving from Hamming and Rosenberg made the mid-game run possible and erased any notions NYU had of stealing a match from Princeton.

The Tigers hit .500 in the game — with 14 kills and two errors — and put forth a much-improved defensive effort.

“We all kind of picked it up together,” Denham said. “We all played pretty consistently except for the second game. I wouldn’t say that anyone stood out tonight more than usual.”

With the Princeton express now hitting full gear, the fourth game was no contest. The Tigers jumped out to a 9-1 lead behind the serving of junior middle blocker Jeff McCown and never looked back, cruising to a 30-16 win to wrap up the match by a score of 3-1.

In the fourth game, Princeton put on an offensive showcase, recording 17 kills on 22 attempts for an incredible .682 hitting percentage.

Denham was satisfied with the lead that his team built in the fourth game.

“We came out in the fourth game with a 9-1 run and were kind of running away with it,” Denham said. “In the last two games, we really dominated, which we hadn’t done in a while. That really felt good. Hopefully we can ride the moment into Friday, which is a really big match for us [against Springfield].”

The Tigers showcased improved passing throughout the match, something that the team struggled to achieve consistently earlier in the year.

“Our passing has improved a lot, but I don’t know about our block,” Denham said. “We’re still working on it. Hopefully by the end of the year our block will be up a little bit.”

Despite the strong performance against the Violets, Princeton still knows there are areas of its game where it can improve.

“I think our consistency in serving [can improve],” Denham said. “We got pretty consistent today by the end of the match. Keeping serves in could be really important down the stretch.”

The Tigers have conference matches approaching against Springfield on April 3 and the New Jersey Institute of Technology on April 7 next on the schedule. The Tigers are excited that their play appears to be rounding into shape.