In a Friday night showdown between Jersey rivals, the Princeton men’s volleyball team (4–4 overall, 1–0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) kicked off their EIVA season with a hard-fought 3–1 win over the No. 19 NJIT Highlanders (6–3, 1–1 EIVA). Despite losing significant star power from last season and battling numerous health issues, the Tigers snapped the Highlanders’ six-game win streak in four sets at Newark: 25–15, 21–25, 26–24, 25–20.
“I was really, really impressed and just proud of the guys for how they competed last night,” men’s volleyball head coach Sam Shweisky told The Daily Princetonian. “We had some sickness, some illness, some guys missed practice, some guys were hurt the last week or two, but we were able to just put it all behind us. We came in and competed really hard.”
Prior to the matchup, the Tigers were replaced in the top-20 national rankings by the Highlanders, who were the highest-ranked team in the EIVA at 19th in the country. The matchup was also a test for the Tigers without standout hitter Ben Harrington ’24, an All-American honorable mention and All-EIVA First Team winner who led the nation in service aces last year. In addition, Princeton had three first-years lined up to play significant roles against NJIT: middle blocker Ethan Wells, hitter Mason Rice playing the Harrington role, and the team’s new libero Roan Alviar.
But the Tigers walked onto the court ready to leave no doubts. Despite a back-and-forth 7–6 lead to start the first set, the Orange and Black quickly picked up momentum with a 3–0 run sparked by first-year hitter Mason Rice.
This was immediately followed by a 3–0 run sparked by a kill and service ace from senior hitter and co-captain Nyherowo Omene that brought the scoreline to 16–9. Omene, who has the highest aces per set in the EIVA, looks to lead the team this season alongside his two co-captains, senior setter Henry Wedbush and sophomore middle blocker Tristan Whitfield. Whitfield was named the EIVA Freshman of the Year last season.
“Being co-captain with Henry and Tristan is such a great honor,” Omene wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “I believe that we work together very well to help lead the team, and it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done so far as a person. It can be tough but for the most part, I love every part of it.”
The Tigers breezed past the Highlanders for the rest of the first set, ending on a 7–0 run that saw four kills from Rice alone, to finish it 25–15.
The second set did not go in the Tigers’ favor as the Highlanders, who lead the EIVA in hitting percentage, were able to break through Princeton’s defense this time around. While both teams’ offensive prowesses were on full display in a near-perfectly balanced scoreline throughout, the key difference was one 4–0 run by NJIT, as the Tigers lost it by four points, 25–21.
“We have a lot of respect for NJIT, the head coach is a good friend of mine,” said Shweisky, who has known NJIT head coach Danny Goncalves for over 20 years. “He has really taken his team to new heights. I knew it was going to be a battle — we knew they’ve been playing really well lately, and obviously it’s always tougher to play a team in their home gym.”
Following the setback, the third set saw the Tigers slow down NJIT’s attackers while hitting more efficiently. Alviar dug many of the Highlanders’ powerful strikes, setting up Wedbush for a clever kill to take a four-point lead at 12–8, but the Highlanders pushed back and leveled the game 13 a piece. Sophomore hitter Jameson Vaccaro displayed his athleticism, floating in the air for a block that restored the Tiger lead, but the back-and-forth kill affair continued up to the very last point.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my assistant Joe Norton, he is in charge of the blocks and defense and he spent a lot of time scouting this team,” Shweisky noted. “He was able to implement some different block and defense strategies just to try to slow down some of their attackers.”
These defensive adjustments allowed the Orange and Black to hold NJIT to their lowest hitting percentage of the season (0.238). However, the Tigers still faced set point at 24–23 after a successful NJIT kill. A string of individual brilliance — an Omene kill, Wells block, and Vaccaro kill — gave the third set to Princeton in the end, 26–24.
Two kills apiece from Whitfield and Rice and two consecutive aces from Omene opened up the fourth set 11–10 in Princeton’s favor. Just after, two straight kills from NJIT flipped the scoreline to a 13–12 Highlander lead. The Tigers followed that, however, with a 5–0 run that propelled them to a 17–13 lead. Wells and Omene added two more kills, before the two paired up for an impenetrable block that capped off a dominant defensive display 25–20 in the fourth and final set, ending the night 3–1 in Princeton’s first game of their 2025 EIVA run.
“Conference matches are really important to us for our goals of hosting and winning the conference,” Omene commented about the team’s excitement over the win. “However, once we allowed ourselves to have the day, we immediately settled into focusing on our next conference game against Charleston.”
“We have a goal to try and host EIVA playoffs and make a run for the NCAA, therefore, the best way to do that is to work as hard as we can,” he added.
The Tigers will face the Charleston Cougars (5–6 overall, 2–0 Coastal Athletic Association) in South Carolina twice next weekend, on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m., before returning to host NJIT at Dillon Gymnasium the following Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m.
“We’re a one game-at-a-time, one-set-at-a-time, one-point-at-a-time mentality,” Shweisky said about the upcoming matchup. “Being able to try to scrap and claw for every single point is definitely going to be the mindset heading into these conference games.”
Bryant Figueroa is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.org.
Read More
Norman Finkelstein GS ’87 returns to talk at Princeton, discusses Israel and Gaza
Luke GrippoThe Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a second annual conversation with political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein GS ’87 to discuss the war in Gaza.
The Princeton Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a 2nd annual conversation with political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein GS ’87 to discuss the war in Gaza.
Sweet tooth: Coffee Club’s new Valentine’s drinks
Emma CinoccaStaff Writer for The Prospect Emma Cinocca reviews Coffee Club’s new Valentine's menu drinks.
Staff Writer for The Prospect Emma Cinocca reviews Coffee Club’s new Valentine's menu drinks.
‘My Little Princeton Tiger’: The purrfect roomate
Mira Eashwaran and Raphaela GoldPrinceton’s policy allows students to bring emotional support animals to campus. The ‘Prince’ spoke to Via Matthews ’26 about her ESA — a fluffy ginger cat named Wrenjamin Norris III.
