Men's Volleyball: Princeton cruises in Big Apple

After a discouraging stretch on the road, the men’s volleyball team injected new life into its season with a 3-1 victory at New York University on Tuesday night to keep a spot in postseason play in their sights.

It was a test of endurance, with an epic 39-37 opening set. Despite four set ball opportunities, Princeton (8-7 overall, 3-4 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) finally conceded the first set.

The Tigers jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the set, but the Violets responded with five straight points. From then on, neither team led by more than two points. Three late kills by NYU middle blocker Fran Hodgson were particularly hard to recover from, and the Tigers lost the first set.

The Tigers, however, rallied to take the next three sets 30-26, 30-28, 30-23.

“I think towards the end of the match, our passing started to get a lot better, with lots of balls to [sophomore setter Scott Liljestrom], and our blocking started to get better, and that really helped us to solidify our game,” head coach Sam Shweisky said.

The second set was even until late. The teams were tied at 9, 15, and 22. But the Tigers clamped down at the end. A kill by junior outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli and a kill by freshman outside hitter Pat Schwagler pushed Princeton over the top.

In the third set, the Tigers began to assert themselves more powerfully. Princeton never trailed, building leads of 10-7 and 20-15. A late surge by the Violets saw the gap closed to one at 29-28. But another kill from Tuminelli sealed the deal.

By the fourth set, the Tigers were having their way with NYU. Princeton again opened a 10-7 lead and later led 15-11. This time, the Violets were unable to mount much of a comeback. The Tigers ended things with a bang, blocking three consecutive spike attempts. Freshman middle blocker Michael Dye was in on all three.

NYU had opened with a forceful strategy which at first confounded the Tigers, but they were able to bounce, roaring into action to clinch the win.

“NYU came out serving really aggressively, they were playing a high-risk, high-reward game, and so our passing struggled at the beginning. But then our passing settled down and they started missing too many serves and had to back down on their strategy a little bit,” senior middle blocker Jeff McCown said.

“Defense also did a really good job at putting the ball away,” he added. “I think it was really a team effort today. It took a lot of different things: They were passing pretty well, too, so a lot of people really had to step up and do some good blocking.”

Schwagler had another sensational game, netting 14 kills on 40 attempts for a .275 kill percentage. He also had eight digs.

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McCown finished second on the team with 14 kills on 33 attempts. His kill percentage was .303.

Senior outside hitter Carl Hamming added 10 kills on 27 attempts along with five digs. Dye had a great game, notching 10 kills on just 16 attempts for an impressive .562 kill percentage. Eight blocks and five digs rounded out a well-balanced stat line.

Liljestrom finished with 48 assists and six digs.

As a team, the Tigers finished with a .252 kill percentage and 53 total assists.

NYU was led by outside hitter Pattrick Dodd, who finished with 21 kills on 45 attempts, nine digs and four blocks. Opposite Taylor Donovan finished with 14 kills on 26 attempts and a .308 kill percentage. He also made 10 service errors.

Setter Ori Oren finished with 61 assists and six digs.

The Violets notched a .239 kill percentage as a team.

Princeton faces George Mason on Friday night in a matchup whose outcome will go a long way toward determining seeding in the EIVA tournament. The match begins at 7 p.m. in Dillon Gymnasium.