Behind the leadership of rookie head coach Sam Shweisky, who garnered EIVA Head Coach of the Year honors, the Tigers finished with an even .500 record in EIVA play for the third time in four years. The difference this year, though, was that Princeton placed second in its division, its best finish since the 1999 championship run that landed it a spot in the NCAA Final Four.
The Tigers were led by the extraordinary leadership of Hamming, an outside hitter, and McCown, a middle blocker. Hamming was the leader in digs on the team and recorded a career-best .249 attack percentage.
McCown was the backbone of the team, playing every set this season. While leading the team in service aces (33), he also led the team’s defensive game, recording 22 single blocks and 97 block assists. He was among the top seven players in the EIVA in hitting percentage, service aces, solo blocks, block assists, total blocks and blocks per set, earning him a spot on the All-EIVA team.
Besides the two captains, the squad graduates a senior class that includes libero Reid Fritz, outside hitter Dave Hughes and outside hitter Jeff Zhao.
While the team will certainly lose some of its best players, it has also gained three starting freshmen that quickly made an impact this season.
Freshman outside hitter Pat Schwagler, who was named second-team All-America before his arrival at Princeton, was the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Schwagler hit .272 for the season, averaging 3.56 kills a set. A multifaceted player, he was second best on the team in five different categories for the season: attacks, points, kills, digs and receptions. He also cracked the EIVA top-10 players in kills and points. Along with being named Top Newcomer of the Year, Schwagler received second-team All-EIVA honors.
Freshman middle blocker Michael Dye also was quick to earn a starting role in the Tigers’ rotation. A member of the U.S. Youth National Team prior to college play, he tallied the ninth-best hitting percentage in the league with a .379 percentage in league play, becoming the only freshman to crack the top 10 in this category. Dye was named to the All-Tournament team for his postseason play.
A high school teammate of Dye’s, fellow freshman Sean Cotter came in as an outside hitter but quickly earned the starting libero spot.
Sophomore Scott Liljestrom rounded out the starting lineup, quickly growing into his role as starting setter this season. His average of 12.71 assists per set more than doubled those of any other Tiger, and he was third in the EIVA for total assists, joining Schwagler as a second-team All-EIVA honoree.
The success the squad experienced would not have occurred without the efforts of junior outside hitter Vinny Tuminelli. He was the Tigers’ leader in attacks, points, kills and receptions. Undoubtedly the loudest and most energetic player on the court, Tuminelli was also among the top-10 EIVA players in kills, total attacks and points.
Opening its season with a January 3-0 loss to No. 2 University of California, Irvine, the Tigers ended their season with another 3-0 loss to No. 3 Penn State in the EIVA finals. Penn State later fell to Stanford in the finals of the NCAA tournament. The Tigers’ most impressive statistic was their ability to outlast opponents in marathon five-game matches. Ten of the team’s 26 matches went to five games, and Princeton won seven of its 10 final sets. The Tigers only dropped two of 11 matches on their home court at Dillon Gymnasium.
Though no captains have yet been elected for the 2010–11 season, the team will look to Tuminelli, who now has two years of start time under his belt, as well as Liljestrom, Schwagler, Dye and Cotter to lead the Tigers to another winning season.
