Men's Volleyball: Finally home, surging Tigers drop Rutgers-Newark

The Tigers took the first set 25-14, with the team hitting at an amazing .778 percentage and committing only one error. Princeton (5-4 overall, 4-2 EIVA), looking to repeat its Feb. 17 win against the Scarlet Raiders (7-7, 1-5), maintained a steady lead after winning the second set 25-20.

Despite such a strong start, Princeton allowed the Scarlet Raiders to win the third set 25-23, with the Tigers’ offense hitting at a mere .250 percent.

“We came out in the third game thinking they were done and wanted to go home, but it was the complete opposite. They were just getting started,” junior middle blocker Michael Dye said.

However, the Tigers bounced back in the fourth set for a 25-19 victory. The teams, more evenly matched this time around, played aggressively in their sets and attacks. Nevertheless, with Rutgers-Newark unable to keep its attacks inbounds and sophomore middle blocker Brad Howard’s serves leading Princeton on a crucial scoring drive, the hosts regained the lead. Freshman hitter Will Siroky made the final kill on senior setter Scott Liljestrom’s 45th assist of the game to end the Scarlet Raiders’ hopes for a comeback.

“Rutgers just came out serving the ball pretty aggressively. We had to pick up our focus,” Dye said. “We kind of let it slip there in the third set and just knew we had to pick up our level of play when they did.”

Freshman outside hitter Cody Kessel had a monstrous performance, scoring 16 kills on 26 attempts and adding six blocks and five digs. The rookie phenom has been nominated by Off the Block, a national college volleyball website, as a finalist for Player of the Month. As of Tuesday night, Kessel leads the poll with 39.82 percent of the votes, though he credits his teammates for his success on the court.

“The thing about volleyball is that it’s the biggest team sport. So it’s cool to get an individual award, but, without [my team], there’s no way I would’ve gotten it,” Kessel said.

The win followed what was a challenging weekend for the Tigers. They faced off against EIVA leader Penn State (12-1, 6-0) on Friday in Pennsylvania, losing in three games. Princeton could not stop the Nittany Lions’ scoring attack, with Penn State hitting at .462 percent, nearly double the Tigers’ mark.

Though Princeton was unable to make much of a team impact on the offensive front, Dye played an impressive match. The junior recorded 12 kills in 20 attempts. Kessel continued to play well, closely following Dye with eight kills.

On Saturday, the Tigers regrouped and beat St. Francis (8-8, 4-2) in a 3-0 sweep. The 25-23, 33-31, 25-21 victory was a huge road win for Princeton, capping its eighth game away from home in three weeks of play.

The game was marked by Princeton’s excellent performance on the offensive front. Kessel, in another huge game, notched 13 kills, while Dye ended the game with 10 kills, five digs and four blocks.

Siroky and sophomore Davis Waddell also had much to contribute to the high-scoring match, adding seven and six kills, respectively. Liljestrom served his hitters with 34 assists.

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Though finally being able to play at home had a huge effect on the Tigers’ second straight victory on Tuesday night, Dye also attributed the loss to Penn State as a factor in the win.

“Getting a loss to Penn State influenced us to go ahead and pick up our mentality, especially for St. Francis and this game today, and the other two games we have this week,” he said.

Twelve of Princeton’s 13 remaining games will be played at home in Dillon Gymnasium, an important factor in the Tigers’ hunt to stay near the top of the league standings. The Tigers now have a total of four road victories under their belt, as compared to last year’s one, something they will keep in mind as they head into their next game against Sacred Heart on Friday.

Princeton will try to beat the Pioneers for the second time this season, this time at home.