Men's Volleyball: Tigers back in form after loss

After opening conference play with a 1-3 loss to rival George Mason, the Princeton men’s volleyball team (2-2 overall, 1-1 EIVA) evened their overall and league records to .500 with a shutout win over Rutgers-Newark on Tuesday night. The 25-18, 25-9, 25-16 win was the Tigers’ season home opener.

Princeton started the match with a kill by junior outside hitter Pat Schwagler, who earned EIVA Offensive Player of the Week after his 19-kill performance in Princeton’s season-opening win over No. 13 UC Santa Barbara. The pushback that Princeton faced was when Rutgers-Newark (2-2) decreased the margin to 13-15, but after a kill by Schwagler Princeton ran away with the set and then the match, said junior middle blocker Brad Howard. The Tigers outhit the Scarlet Raiders 11 kills to three, also posting a .217 attack percentage and four blocks to take the set 25-18.

Princeton continued to assert its dominance in the second set and recorded 12 kills, while again limiting Rutgers-Newark’s kills to three. This time, the Tigers hit .500 and added an impressive five aces on the serve to limit the Scarlet Raiders’ set points to only nine. It was in the third set, however, when the Tigers demonstrated their offensive abilities, putting up 14 kills and a .321 attack percentage to seal the win.

The match was a departure from the way Princeton played in its crucial match against George Mason (3-5).

“Against George Mason, we played not to lose,” junior setter Davis Waddell said. “Our win over UCSB showed that we can beat anybody, but there’s a difference between thinking we can beat a team and thinking we should beat team. We came into the Mason match assuming we would win and got humbled in a big way. Tonight we got back to playing like we have nothing to lose.”

Sophomore outside hitter Cody Kessel led the team in kills with 10, followed by Schwagler with nine. Sophomore middle blocker Will Siroky recorded eight kills and also lead the team in points scored with 13.5, and recorded four aces and three blocks, hitting .778. Three of Siroky’s four aces were consecutive in the second set. Sophomore libero Tony Ensbury joined Schwagler to post six digs. Waddell recorded 31 sets, and freshman Devin Stearns had two kills and two digs in his Dillon Gymnasium debut. “We made a conscious effort to focus on our team and execute our game and it really showed on the court,” Siroky said.

The Tigers will spend the rest of February on the road, including a match in State College against Penn State, before returning home on March 1 to play Sacred Heart in Dillon.