Men's Volleyball: Final preseason tourney gives hope against defending national champs

Though the men’s volleyball team left the court this past Saturday having lost in the semifinals of its last preseason tournament, the Tigers were more confident than ever of a brilliant future. If they play their cards just right, this season could be the one they have been dreaming of.

“It was a great day,” head coach Sam Shweisky said. “When we start the regular season in January, we’re going to have a chance to make a very significant run at the [Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA)] championship.”

Hosted by the Stevens Institute of Technology, Saturday’s tournament was what is often referred to as a “friendship tournament” — a group of exhibition matches in which varsity, club and adult teams compete. The Tigers — competing against nine other squads — defeated four opponents before finally falling to Baruch University’s varsity team.

Princeton’s strong performance was even more impressive given that the team was missing its two starting seniors. Middle blocker Jeff McCown and outside hitter Carl Hamming were both unable to attend the tournament.

“In a lot of ways, we were playing with a depleted team,” Shweisky said. “That forced us to put in a different lineup than what we normally use. To their credit, the guys responded really well and put up some great wins.”

Based on this weekend’s results, Shweisky was optimistic that the Tigers would be able to perform at a high level over the next few months.

“[In the tournament], the team did a good job of staying focused and just playing the ball,” he said. “We talk a lot in practice about how errors are bound to happen. I mean, the chances are pretty good that at some point, you’re going to miss some shots. What we’ve been working on is making sure that we respond productively to those errors — by increasing our intensity and keeping calm — instead of letting them drag down the quality of play..”

Princeton begins its regular season on the West Coast against defending national champion UC-Irvine, a match that Shweisky indicated will present a unique opportunity for the Tigers to test how far they’ve come.

“The chance to go out to California to kick things off is really motivating,” Shweisky said. “Opening up against the defending NCAA champions — it’s going to be exciting to see what we can do.”

If Princeton finishes the season in the top three of the EIVA standings, the Tigers will be able to face Penn State, their toughest East Coast rival, in the EIVA finals.

“We want to come second or third [in the EIVA standings] so that we can play someone other than Penn State in the semifinals,” Shweisky said. “Then once it gets to that final match, it’s really anyone’s to win.”

Tuminelli echoed the sentiment about the Tigers’ chances against Penn State.

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“We have a very talented squad this year,” he said. “We need to continue working hard throughout the rest of this preseason and maintain a high level of play in all of our matches. If we do that and play up to our potential, then I see no reason why we can’t beat Penn State.”

A victory in the EIVA championship would catapult the Tigers into the final four of the NCAA tournament — at which point, Shweisky said, anything can happen.

“When you’re at that stage, everything goes out the window. You’re playing [at Stanford], and you’re in a nationally televised ESPN game,” he said. “That’s when things get really interesting.”