The Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) is heating up, with three teams tied for first. The Princeton men’s volleyball team (6–6 overall, 3–1 EIVA) has joined the tie after a 3–1 win on Friday night against their Jersey rivals, the No. 19 NJIT Highlanders (7–6, 2–3 EIVA) at Dillon Gym: 25–15, 19–25, 25–21, 25–13.
“The win is extremely important for this competitive conference,” Head Xoach Sam Shweisky wrote to The Daily Princetonian. “We are 2–0 against them this season … it’s another step towards hosting the playoffs.”
Despite having already defeated the Highlanders in their season opener, the Tigers had everything to play for in this Garden State showdown. In a balanced EIVA this year, nearly all teams are fighting for hosting rights at the end-of-season tournament. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA National Collegiate Championship. For Princeton and its opponents, every game, set, and point matters.
Both Jersey giants carried momentum heading into the matchup after the Tigers handed Charleston (6–9 overall, 3–1 EIVA) their first defeat of the conference in the prior weekend’s split. Meanwhile, NJIT also split their series against Penn State (5–8, 2–2 EIVA), last year’s undefeated EIVA champions, the week prior.
Following their win against Penn State, NJIT replaced Princeton in the top-20 national rankings, reclaiming the title of the highest-ranked team in the EIVA. But the Orange and Black was ready for a statement victory last Friday night.
“The rivalry with NJIT is about what a talented team they are and how much we respect them,” senior setter Henry Wedbush wrote to the ‘Prince.’
The Tigers got off to a flying start in set one with two kills from first-year hitter Mason Rice and a block from sophomore middle blocker Tristan Whitfield, giving them an early 5–3 lead. Rice ended the night with 12 kills on a 0.550 hitting percentage, producing only one error all game.
Senior hitter Nyherowo Omene, the reigning EIVA Offensive Player of the Week, took no time in adding a kill of his own to bring the Tigers up 11–6. Omene leads the EIVA in both kills and service aces.
Aces from Wedbush, Rice, and Omene highlighted the individual brilliance that allowed Princeton to dominate the first set, ending with a Whitfield service for a score of 25–15.
“I thought the team played a very good game on Friday against NJIT,” Shweisky noted. “Every aspect of the game seemed to be clicking, especially from the service line.”
The ball swung the Highlanders’ way in the second set. Despite Omene’s six kills, NJIT slowed down Princeton’s attackers much more efficiently with a string of blocks, causing the Tigers — down 10–6 — to call a timeout.
Three Omene kills leveled the set at 14–14, but a string of individual errors gave NJIT another three-point lead. Junior middle blocker Ryan Vena came in and smacked down a Highlander overpass to bring the Tigers back within one at 18–17, but it was not enough as the Highlanders returned the favor with two consecutive service aces to give NJIT the second set, 25–19.
The rivalry produced much more intense, balanced play in the third set, with both teams producing their best attacks of the night. Omene and sophomore hitter Jameson Vaccaro started with kills on opposite sides of the court to give the Tigers a quick 5–2 lead.
At 11–9 up, the two teams produced an epic rally that included two one-handed digs followed by an impressive save by first-year libero Roan Alviar to keep the ball in play, ending with a leaping Vaccaro solo block to give Princeton the point. The Tigers also began showing their dominance defensively, with a Rice and Whitfield block increasing their lead to 14–10.
Vaccaro followed up into NJIT’s uncovered corner, while Vena split his two blockers to give Princeton a 19–17 lead. An Omene ace capped off another point. The Highlanders' service errors and attack errors ultimately sealed the third set 25–21 for the Tigers.
“Our defensive strategy for this game was essentially to stop them from the middle-out,” explained Shweisky. “The middle hitters for NJIT have been having a great season; we focused on stopping them first.”
Princeton was all defense in the fourth set, as they held the Highlanders to an abysmal six kills. In fact, the majority of the Highlanders’ points in this final set came from Princeton’s own seven errors. Vaccaro, Vena, Omene, and Rice each got kills when it was still a balanced 4–3 Tiger lead. Two straight blocks in one play, a Wedbush dump, and a triple block catapulted the Orange and Black to a 12–5 lead before NJIT called their second timeout.
Omene, Whitfield, and the team as a whole had various blocking highlights in this set. The Tigers held NJIT to their lowest hitting percentage this season (0.032) for the second time this season, recording 27 blocks, their most this season.
“I have to give great credit to our assistant coach Joe Norton for the great block and defense game plan he devised for NJIT and the players’ ability to execute the plan to perfection,” Wedbush wrote.
It was not the Highlanders’ day in terms of attacking and passing. Rice quickly shut down an overpass coming off the timeout, before a Wedbush service ace and blocks from Omene and Whitfield propelled the Tigers to a 19–9 lead in the fourth set.
Vena smacked down yet another poor overpass before Vaccaro and Rice added kills to give Princeton the set and match point at 24–13. The Highlanders could not keep the ball up after a Wedbush block sent it down to their side, giving Princeton the fourth set 25–13 and the season sweep over NJIT.
“It means a great deal to be able to sweep such a strong opponent as NJIT,” Wedbush wrote.
“Playing at home is always fun,” he added. “It gives us a ton of motivation to perform in front of a home crowd. I’m happy we could pull it off.”
With their first home game of the conference ending victorious, the Tigers lept to first place, edging out Harvard (5–6 overall, 3–1 EIVA) and Charleston (6–9 overall, 3–1 EIVA) with a better overall record for the time being.
The Tigers will travel to California over spring break to take on a tough string of opponents: No. 13 UC San Diego, No. 7 California State Northridge, and No. 1 Long Beach State, before coming back to host a non-conference matchup against Daemen on Saturday, March 22. Their next two conference games against Sacred Heart University are on the weekend of March 28.
“The goal of this season is to be first out of the regular season and bring the playoffs to Dillon gym!” Wedbush wrote.
Bryant Figueroa is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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