Men's Volleyball: Princeton nearly shocks No. 8 Penn State

Cheered on by a capacity crowd at Dillon Gymnasium on Friday, Princeton and Penn State spent most of the match within one point of each other, with each holding multiple match balls over the other. But the Nittany Lions stayed alive after a marathon fourth set and took a nail-biting victory, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 37-35, 15-12.

“It was the best volleyball match I have ever played in. It was a great match for EIVA volleyball too, which has been dominated so long by Penn State,” freshman outside hitter Cody Kessel said. “On one hand, it was very disappointing to come inches away from knocking off the dynasty, and, on the other hand, it is exciting to know we came so close.”

The game was remarkably different from Princeton’s Feb. 24 match at Penn State, in which the visitors fell 25-15, 25-18, 25-15.

“The first time, we had lost the match before warm-ups even started,” freshman midde blocker Will Siroky said.

This time, however, the Tigers played strong and recorded an outstanding 15.5 team blocks compared to Penn State’s 6.5, adding to 62 kills at a .299 hitting percentage. Princeton fought off three match balls in the final set after holding eight over Penn State in the fourth, but it was the Nittany Lions came away with the win.

Kessel led the Tigers’ offense with 25 kills, followed by junior middle blocker Michael Dye, who added 15. Both Kessel and Dye played well defensively, too, with Kessel recording a season-high seven blocks and Dye adding six. Dye, who played well in his previous match against Penn State, surpassed his last performance to hit .500 on Friday.

Rounding out the offense, Siroky posted 12 kills at .455 percent and added seven blocks, while sophomore hitter Davis Waddell added six kills and seven digs. Freshman libero Tony Ensbury contributed eight digs, as he and Waddell worked together to record 69 of Princeton’s 100 service returns.

“The Penn State game showed that this team has incredible fight. I think that fighting mentality came back in the fourth game against St. Francis,” sophomore outside hitter Jeff Stapleton said. “It’s hard dropping both of those matches, but we’re looking ahead to our next matches, getting ready to bounce back and finish the season strong.”

The following day, the Tigers dropped a match to St. Francis that may be a critical blow to their postseason hopes.

“We were really just gassed. The physical and mental toll of the Penn State match really showed,” Siroky said. “We didn’t execute when we needed to against a great team in St. Francis. It’s easy to make excuses, but, in reality, we just didn’t get the job done.”

In the 22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 32-30 loss, Siroky posted seven kills and five blocks, while Dye also recorded seven kills from the middle.

Kessel had yet another dominating performance with 19 kills, followed by Stapleton, who recorded 14 kills. Stapleton, with a .524 hitting percentage, added two blocks as well in one of his most impressive games of the season since returning from an injury. Senior co-captain Scott Liljestrom added 43 assists, while Ensbury and Waddell recorded 12 and 10 digs, respectively, with Waddell contributing two blocks to round out the defense.

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Princeton put up impressive numbers for the match overall, hitting .315 and scoring 52 kills, but could not find consistency on the court and could not stop the Red Flash from making a comeback.

“To be great, you have to be consistent, especially in a sport like volleyball where errors, in one way or another, end every point,” Kessel said.

The pair of losses drops the Tigers to sixth place in the EIVA, and the conference only takes the top four teams into the postseason. Princeton’s chances at reaching the playoffs still exist, but it would require winning out the season as well as key losses from higher-standing teams. Its last conference games are against NJIT and George Mason, both of which defeated Princeton earlier in the season.

Nonetheless, the Tigers will use the momentum of their game against Penn State to push through the remainder of the season and attempt to break into the top four.

“We’re learning from our mistakes from this weekend and putting them behind us,” Stapleton said. “We have a crucial home stretch to the season. Every game is crucial.”