Men's Volleyball: No. 14 Penn State too much for Princeton in EIVA semifinal

The men’s volleyball team fell to EIVA powerhouse No. 14 Penn State 3-0 in State College Thursday night. The loss doomed the Tigers’ (13-10 overall, 9-6 EIVA) chances of winning the league and will most likely end their season, taking away their only real shot at making the NCAA tournament.

The fourth-seeded Tigers were not expected to take down the top-seeded Nittany Lions (22-7, 13-1), who have gone 36-0 at the EIVA Championships since 1999. Princeton hoped to recapture the magic it had in 1998, when it took down Penn State 15-7, 15-13, 16-14. It was the last time that Penn State lost a game in the tournament, and the Nittany Lions will look to defend that streak against Harvard, which defeated George Mason, on Saturday night in the EIVA championship game.

The Tigers made it a game in the last set, which it lost by just two points. They fell behind early, however, losing the first two 25-20 and 25-17 and digging themselves into a hole from which they could not get out.

Junior outside hitter Pat Schwagler led the Tigers with seven digs and 10 kills, but it was the Nittany Lions’ day, as they had two players well above Schwagler in each category. Princeton put up a fight in the first set, which it ultimately lost 25-20, and had 13 kills and a .385 hitting percentage, but it failed to get out to an early lead. Penn State took the first set, as it has done in every EIVA tournament match since 1999, and never looked back.

Led by Russell Aaron, who had 21 kills and 12 digs on the day, Penn State dominated the second set, putting up a .571 hitting percentage compared with Princeton’s .280. The set ended 25-17.

The Tigers actually had a better hitting percentage – .630 – than the Nittany Lions’ .324 in the third, and came close to forcing a fourth set a number of times. The set was tied at seven separate points and the Tigers even took the lead midway through on six straight points, tying it at 20-20. Sadly for a number of Tigers, especially seniors like middle blocker Michael Dye, who had four kills and five digs on the day, they could not pull through, and Penn State ended the game and, almost definitely, the Tigers’ season - with an ace – winning the final set 25–23.