Men's Volleyball: Princeton has high hopes for chances in postseason

“Playoffs?” Mora famously replied. “Don’t talk about playoffs. You kidding me? Playoffs?”

Yes, Mr. Mora, let’s talk about the playoffs.

The men’s volleyball team’s regular season draws to a close today at George Mason, but next Wednesday the team will begin play in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) playoffs. A cursory look at the EIVA standings reveals that, despite Princeton’s position near the bottom, its chances in the playoffs remain ripe.

The EIVA is divided into two divisions. The seven-team Tait Division is the higher-ranked division and the one Princeton plays in, and the Hay Division is the six-team, lower-ranked division. The winner of the Hay Division takes the place of the lowest team in the Tait Division next season, but for the playoffs the top two Hay teams enter the mix with the six highest Tait teams.

This season, the New Jersey Institute of Technology has the dubious distinction of both being omitted from the playoffs and relegated to the Hay Division next season.

Despite Princeton’s current position just above NJIT in the Tait Division table, the team has reason to believe it can make a splash in the EIVA playoffs. Aside from Penn State, which finished its conference regular season 12-0, the Tigers have played all of the other teams very closely. Princeton took Juniata, the second-place team, to five games and split the season series with Saint Francis, the third-place team, in two five-set thrillers.

“If you look at the league, we stand a good chance to make it to the last four or even the title game,” senior setter and captain Brandon Denham said.

Win or lose today, Princeton will play one of the two teams from the Hay Division in the opening round next Wednesday in Dillon Gymnasium. Depending on the weekend’s results, the Tigers will play either Rutgers-Newark or Harvard, both of which Princeton has defeated this season. Against Rutgers-Newark on Feb. 14, the Scarlet Raiders shocked the crowd for a 35-33 opening-set win, but Princeton shook off the slow start to finish off the visitors 3-1 in convincing fashion.

The Tigers emphatically beat the Crimson on March 13 in three games at Dillon. Princeton’s balanced attack, led by senior outside hitter Phil Rosenberg, made quick work of the Crimson. But before the Tigers can start planning for Harvard or Rutgers-Newark, they first play tonight at George Mason.

Though historically strong in the EIVA — in the past four seasons, George Mason has reached the EIVA semifinals four times and the finals twice — the Patriots are 4-6 against Tait Division foes this season, right above Princeton in the standings, with remaining games tonight against Princeton and Saturday against NJIT. Even if Princeton wins tonight, the Patriots’ likely victory against the cellar-dwelling Highlanders would give George Mason the fifth seed and the Tigers the sixth seed.

“With the way the league is this year — even [with regards to] Mason — if we play well against them, we will win,” Denham said. “If we don’t play our best, well, we stand a good chance at losing. We want to win, but either way our place in the playoffs is about set.”

Being the sixth seed in the tournament would mean that, should they get past Harvard or Rutgers-Newark, would face third-seeded St. Francis in the quarterfinals.

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“We should get past the first round, though obviously nothing’s guaranteed,” Denham said. “After that, we’ll probably have to drive a long way to St. Francis. But we already beat them once at their place, so there’s really no reason we can’t do it again.”

Penn State remains the overwhelming favorite to win the EIVA Championship. The right to take on Penn State in the EIVA finals, however, is still very much up for grabs.