Things are looking up for the men’s volleyball team (1-3 overall, 0-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association).
Last Friday, the Tigers secured their first victory of the season over New Jersey Institute of Technology, beating the Highlanders 3-0.
The Tigers defeated the Highlanders, 30-24, 30-21, 30-26, in a game that saw junior outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli lead the offensive charge with a match-high 15 kills.
Senior outside hitter and co-captain Carl Hamming recorded 13 kills in addition to freshman outside hitter Pat Schwagler’s 11, both ahead of the Highlander’s top scorer Charles Bell, who recorded 10.
It was defensively, however, that Princeton shone, limiting NJIT to a meager .174 attack percentage and amassing 39 digs to the Highlanders’ 26.
Walk-on sophomore libero Manny Sardinha, a recent addition to the squad, was central in achieving this statistic, with 11 digs.
In addition to volleyball, Sardinha also plays midfield for the varsity soccer team.
NJIT committed multiple errors early on, giving Princeton many easy initial points.
In the first set, the Tigers built a 19-13 lead.
The Highlanders fought back, but never came closer than within five points en route to the 30-24 final score.
The second set was more of the same, with the Highlanders making numerous attack errors.
Princeton raced to a 4-1 lead and never looked back.
In the final set, however, the Highlanders made a valiant surge, rallying from a 20-16 deficit to take the lead, 24-22.
The Tigers swiftly countered this threat and clinched a 30-26 win.
Princeton accumulated a dominating .416 hitting percentage, with a match-best .590 in the second game, but NJIT had the edge in team blocks, with 6.5 to the Tigers’ 5.5.
Sophomore setter Scott Liljestrom was a fundamental player in the team’s victory, recording an impressive 51 assists, to which leading Highlander setter Adam Gustafson’s 29 paled in comparison.
Liljestrom also recorded one of three Princeton service aces, while NJIT had none.
The Tigers will make their home debut tonight against New York University.
Princeton’s game against the George Mason Patriots, which was scheduled for last Saturday and was slated to be the Tigers’ EIVA opener, was postponed due to the weekend’s snowstorm. The matchup will be made up at a yet to be determined later date.
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