Men's volleyball sweeps weekend, prepares for match against Cokey

The Princeton men’s volleyball team is off to its best start in recent memory, opening 3-0 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and 5-4 overall. On Friday, Feb. 13they defeated a Harvard team (6-4, 2-1 EIVA) ranked No. 13in the nation 3-1, and then a strong Sacred Heart squad (3-6, 1-2 EIVA) 3-0. The team now seeks to continue its success against independent Coker College (1-8) this Friday, Feb. 20at 7 p.m. in Dillon Gym.

Princeton’s victories this weekend and all season were so convincing that the AVCA committee now ranks Princeton as 13thin the nation, replacing Harvard in the poll. It is the first time the Tigers have been nationally ranked since the 1998 season, which was also the only season in which Princeton has won an EIVA championship. Princeton beat two previously ranked 13thteams in Harvard and Cal State-Northridge to earn the spot.

Sophomore star and New Jersey native Junior Oboh is a major force in Princeton’s bid for another championship this season. A dominant physical presence at 6’ 7”, Junior was named EIVA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance this past weekend, as he averaged 1.9 blocks a set over the two games. It was the first time he has won the award, although perhaps he has deserved more attention all season. Junior now averages 1.26 blocks per set, good for first in the EIVA and 10thoverall in the NCAA, and said in a post game interview that his time this summer training with the Junior National team has helped his game immensely. Junior also said that the team’s game strategy of serving hard and passing the ball against Harvard’s float-serve style really paid dividends in the match.

Senior Cody Kessel won his second EIVA Offensive Player of the Week award this season for his strong play over the weekend. Kessel now averages 4.85 kills and 5.85 points per set, and averaged five kills and seven points over the weekend. Kessel was an All-American nominee last season, and his impressive stats this season will put him into consideration.

The team will now host Coker College, a small Division II school in South Carolina. Coker is slated to play local team NJIT the day before as well, to whom they previously lost 3-0 in January. Princeton swept NJIT 3-0 last week on an impressive performance from sophomore Chris Kennedy. Coker will be looking for a strong performance from sophomore Artur Cabral, who currently averages 3.9 points per set and 2.9 kills per set. Only four other players on the Coker roster average single digit points per set, compared to eight players for Princeton. After competing with Princeton, Coker will move on to play Sacred Heart and Harvard in a tough four game stretch.

Meanwhile the Tigers will play George Mason, Juniata, and then NJIT for a second time all at home at Dillon Gym in a stretch that they should look to dominate before playing six away games in a row.