Men's Volleyball: Loss in five-set thriller caps Nelson’s career

In head coach Glenn Nelson’s final game, Princeton fell to Saint Francis 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 32-34, 15-9 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) quarterfinals at Loretta, Pa. The Tigers faced a 2-0 deficit but clawed their way back in the hotly contested third and fourth games before falling in the fifth.

“We had a slow start in the first two games,” senior setter and captain Brandon Denham said. “We came back really well in the next two games, but they took the momentum back for the fifth game.”

Junior middle blocker Jeff McCown led the Tigers with 19 kills on .593 hitting. Senior outside hitter Phil Rosenberg had 17 kills, while senior middle blocker Mike Vincent and junior rightside hitter Carl Hamming had 13 and 12, respectively.

Saint Francis is usually carried by its outside and rightside hitters, but the man to rise to the occasion this time was middle blocker Pete Freyer, who finished with 17 kills and no errors on only 19 attempts — an astounding .895 hitting percentage.

The first game was all Saint Francis. The Red Flash took a 2-0 lead right off the bat and never allowed Princeton to tie the game. The Tigers stayed within striking distance for most of it, but three straight Saint Francis points, including two kills by outside hitter Alex Fortney, gave the Red Flash a 22-17 lead that it held for the victory.

Princeton put up a much better fight in the second game — leading as late as 20-19 — but Saint Francis won 11 of the final 17 points down the stretch to take a 2-0 lead. Both teams were plagued by service errors, but the Tigers’ came at crucial moments more often, and Princeton lost momentum as a result.

But the Tigers did, however, come up with enough big plays to erase St. Francis’ match lead. Better serving and receiving forced the Red Flash to work for its side outs, as Princeton threw up several big blocks and digs in the very tight third and fourth games.

“We finally woke up and got some serves in,” Hamming said. “We were able to build a little momentum and play our game.”

Princeton maintained a slim lead throughout the third game, and when it seemed Saint Francis had climbed back into it at 25-24, the Tigers won three straight points to extend their margin before winning 30-28 on a Saint Francis service error.

The fourth game was the most intense, but Princeton channeled its energy through the hot hand of McCown, who delivered three late kills during a stretch of six consecutive side outs, as neither team wanted to relinquish the chance. With the score knotted at 32, two kills from Rosenberg delivered the win in the fourth and forced the fifth game.

But the Tigers could not carry their momentum any further. Princeton missed four serves during the final frame, but a questionable net-violation call on Vincent coupled with consecutive Saint Francis aces delivered the crucial 8-4 lead to the home side.

“Right after the intense fourth game, we tried to keep the momentum going, but we missed some serves, then they got a couple of aces, and we never climbed back,” Hamming said.

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The Tigers cannot be too disappointed with the loss. Saint Francis is the No. 3 seed in the EIVA tournament, and all three of their matches this season have gone to the fifth game. Saint Francis is also expected to be very strong next season.

“We’ve had a little bit of an up-and-down season,” Denham said. “While it sucks for the season to end, we were playing hard against a good team.

“We didn’t play our best game, but [Saint Francis is] a solid squad,” Hamming said. “Give some credit to them.”

But because this loss ends the four-year careers of six seniors and the 31-year career of Nelson, it is a tougher pill to swallow.

“[Nelson] basically is Princeton volleyball,” Hamming said. “It’ll be weird without him on the sideline next season. Everything is going to change, especially with all the graduating seniors.”

The missed serves, the emphatic blocks, the sets and the spikes will all be around next season. Most of the team will be back next fall. But Saturday’s loss at Saint Francis was not just the swan song for a few seniors, but for a whole era of Princeton volleyball.