It was a thrilling match on Saturday at Dillon Gymnasium as the Princeton Tigers (3–7 overall, 0–3 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) took down the Dominican Chargers (4–12 overall, 0–0 East Coast Conference) with a final score of 3–2. This marks the end of the Tigers’ four-game losing streak and their first win since the 3–0 victory against St. Thomas Aquinas on Jan. 31.
“After losing a few games in a row, we were pretty frustrated, and we’re telling ourselves that we need to work a lot harder,” senior pin hitter Andrew Werner told The Daily Princetonian. “So this week, in the gym, in practice, we were practicing working hard … So I think that really prepared us well to fight tonight.”
Princeton opened with momentum, and Werner’s kill on the first rally sparked a 9–2 run that included four service aces. A 10–4 surge pushed the lead to 22–11, and despite a brief Dominican response, the Tigers closed out the set 25–13.
Dominican was never able to get oriented in the first set as Princeton dominated the stats. The Tigers had six aces and a .500 hitting percentage, compared to the Chargers’ zero aces and .077 hitting percentage.
Princeton jumped to a 3–1 lead in the second set, but Dominican quickly tied it at 4–4 with aggressive play. Princeton then went on a 10–4 run, aided by a few Dominican errors, prompting a timeout.
The Chargers kept the pressure on, using several runs to cut the deficit to 21–17 after a service ace by Carsen Gore. Though Dominican gained late momentum, a kill by Werner sealed the 25–20 set win for the Tigers.
“We had a different offense than we normally run tonight, so I think they probably weren’t really prepared for that at first,” Werner told the ‘Prince.’ “Spreading out the offense did a lot for us and opened up a lot of the court.”
By the third set, Dominican had adapted, opening with a kill and block to set a combative tone. The teams traded points amid errors and fatigue, with Dominican holding a 19–14 lead. Princeton rallied to tie at 24–24 behind senior pin hitter Owen Mellon’s four consecutive kills and sophomore libero Roan Alviar’s diving dig, but a failed kill gave Dominican the set, 27–25. The Chargers were noticeably stronger defensively than in previous sets.
“They had some really physical middles,” Princeton Men’s Volleyball Head Coach Sam Shweisky told the ‘Prince.’ “Sometimes you watch film and talk about it, but until you see it in real life, it’s hard to prepare for it. So it took us part of the game to actually adjust in real time.”
The fourth set saw the Chargers maintain their momentum, taking a 9–5 lead to start. Werner hit two strong spikes to win the following two points, and the two teams were relatively even in score until it was 16–12, with the Tigers down by four. Just as the Tigers rebounded to take the lead at 18–17, the Chargers immediately pulled away again, forcing a Princeton timeout at 23–20.
A strong block by Chargers’ Hunter Paio made it set point immediately after, and the Chargers won the set with a final score of 25–22. The fourth set saw Dominican at their most dominant, with a .472 hitting percentage compared to Princeton’s .286, and the Chargers entered the final set with all the momentum.
“As the opponent plays better, they put you in uncomfortable positions, and so we kept trying to just […] stay consistent, keep doing the things that we know how to do,” Shweisky told the ‘Prince.’ “The fifth set is anyone’s game.”
The Tigers started the final set aggressively, including two consecutive blocks as the score got to 4–2. The two teams traded points until Princeton pulled away, forcing Dominican to call a timeout at 12–8. At a score of 13–9, the Dominican players appeared to taunt sophomore pin hitter Ambrose Engling as he prepared to serve, but a kill followed by a block by junior setter Nolan Kelly secured the last set for the Tigers, 15–9.
In addition to the win, Mellon and Werner got career highs in kills, with 25 and 18, respectively.
“We just [have to] double down,” Mellon told the ‘Prince.’ “We have a hard week of training coming up, and we’re gonna keep doing that and push ourselves to the limit.”
The Tigers will travel to California to play UC San Diego on March 9 and California State University, Northridge on March 11.
“We play two really top-talented teams,” Shweisky told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s a chance to play some elite competition and see how we’ve grown since the last time we were in California.”
James Li is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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