Men's Volleyball: Slim playoff hopes remain after weekend split

The Tigers’ (3-14 overall, 1-8 EIVA Tait Division) loss to No. 10 Penn State (19-5, 9-0) put them in the unenviable position of having to sweep their last two conference games to even have a chance to advance to the postseason. The Nittany Lions, the perennial leaders of the Tait division, presented a particularly tough challenge.

The Tigers hung close early, but Penn State opened up a nine-point lead halfway through the first set that they carried to a 25-21 win. The Nittany Lions put on what seemed like a dominant show, but the final score was much closer than it appeared.

Penn State never seemed to have any definitive advantages, holding just a slight edge in both sideout winning percentage and service winners.

In fact, Princeton fought back in the first, getting as close as 23-20 at one point, and the team carried that momentum into the second set, in which it initially held the lead.

The Nittany Lions proved too strong in big moments, though, bouncing back to open up a huge advantage that reached as many as 11 points. The Tigers never gave up, but Penn State overpowered the Tigers again to capture the third set with the same score as the second, 25-16.

The Tigers went into the game against St. Francis (8-13, 2-6) knowing that it was a must-win, and they played accordingly from the start. The hosts played one of their cleanest matches of the season, averaging just over two errors a set while pressuring St. Francis into almost seven.

The first set was tight early on, but the Tigers capitalized on the Red Flash’s errors and a couple of strong kills from senior outside hitter Vincent Tuminelli and blocks by sophomore middle blocker Michael Dye. The Tigers played strongly on the defensive end, keeping the Flash from getting kills and forcing them to play long points out of their comfort zones.

The second set was the Tigers’ best showing, as they took advantage of sterling offensive performances from their front line to hold off St. Francis early.

Both teams seemed to lose focus toward the end, though, combining for six service errors before a Tuminelli kill closed out the set 25-18.

That lack of focus carried over into the third, during which the Tigers let St. Francis back into the match. The set saw three lead changes, as both teams were always within a couple points of each other.

The Red Flash finally managed to string together a strong sequence, netting four kills in the last four points to fight off two set points and win 26-24.

The Tigers didn’t stay down for long, though, taking out their frustrations early in the fourth set to open up a five-point lead. St. Francis never got closer after 11-7, and the Tigers cruised to a 25-19 victory.

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St. Francis is currently 2-6 in the EIVA, which puts them just ahead of Princeton in the division.

It has two more games remaining, while the Tigers have just one, so for the Tigers to qualify for the postseason, Princeton would have to win its remaining league game against George Mason, and St. Francis would have to lose both of its last two.

All the Tigers can do now is prepare for the George Mason game on April 15. Until then, the Tigers have plenty of non-league games to work out the kinks that surfaced this weekend. Their next match is Saturday against Harvard in Dillon Gymnasium.