Princeton University Athletics
1998 Men's Volleyball Review
September 16, 1999 | Men's Volleyball
Glenn Nelson, one year removed from a trip to Hawaii for the NCAA Final Four with his EIVA champion Princeton Tigers, knew that a repeat trip was likely not in the cards. With most of the superstars from that squad gone via graduation, Nelson just wanted to see his younger players blossom into a competitive team for the future.
Whether or not that happened still remains to be seen. His Tigers showed flashes of solid play mixed evenly with matches that reminded Nelson of the inexperience on the court.
The Tigers started their season with a four-match trip to California. After a victory over La Verne in the season-opener, they dropped three straight matches. Two would be five-game defeats at the hands of California-Baptist and UC-San Diego.
Although they may have been frustrated with the results, the Tigers stayed positive and took the Days Inn/Pine Power Tournament in dominating style. Princeton swept SUNY-New Paltz and Eastern Mennonite before battling host St. Francis for the title. The Tigers were anything but gracious guests as they swept another match for the championship.
Jason Morrow was named tournament MVP while Brandon Vegter, Steve Cooper and Kevin Roche combined for 36 of the team's 52 kills in the final match.
With the conclusion of the tournament, Princeton began focusing on defending its first-ever EIVA crown. It jumped immediately into the fire, battling highly-ranked Penn State on the road. Princeton had never defeated the Nittany Lions until the 1998 championship match, and its opponents were primed for revenge. Penn State jumped all over the Tigers in the first game and held on in the next two for the sweep.
Princeton demonstrated its inconsistency over its next 10 matches by winning five and losing five. One of its nicer wins came at Springfield College, when Princeton claimed its first five-game victory of the year. Morrow, who turned into one of the finest setters in the league, led the effort with 55 assists as the Tigers won 15-10 in the fifth game.
Another match that showed Princeton was still a force to be reckoned with was a home match against Rutgers-Newark. The Scarlet Raiders were highly ranked in the league and returned most of their players from the 1998 EIVA championship game. Rutgers-Newark took Games 1 and 2 in relatively close fashion and had a chance to close out the third game before Princeton started to rally. The Tigers finally took the third game 16-14 and had a lead in the fourth game. Rutgers-Newark, utilizing its experience and power, finally won out over its gritty opponents 17-15 in the fourth game.
The Tigers dropped another match against Penn State before rallying to end the season on a winning streak. Princeton cruised to wins over Southhampton, Queens and East Stroudsburg before heading to Pennsylvania for the Ivy League tournament.
The Tigers demonstrated their dominance over league opponents — nearly all of which compete as club teams — by sweeping all the way through the weekend. In wins over the host Quakers, Harvard and Cornell, the Big Red were the only ones who could muster double-digits in a game — a 15-11 loss that secured the title for the Tigers. Morrow was named MVP of the tournament while Vegter was named to the all-tournament team.
Unfortunately, the EIVA tournament would provide significantly different results. Princeton entered the tournament as the sixth seed and dropped its first match to NJIT to close out its championship defense.
Morrow was named to the 1999 EIVA second-team and should be one of the top players in the league next year. Although Princeton loses the experience and leadership of Vegter, it should be back up near the top of the league next season.
1999 Results
| Date | Opponent | Score |
| 1/25 | La Verne | W, 3-0 |
| 1/26 | Cal-Irvine | L, 0-3 |
| 1/27 | Cal-Baptist | L, 2-3 |
| 1/28 | Cal-San Diego | L, 2-3 |
| 2/5 | SUNY-New Paltz | W, 3-0 |
| 2/6 | Eastern Mennonite | W, 3-0 |
| 2/6 | St. Francis | W, 3-0 |
| 2/7 | Penn State | L, 0-3 |
| 2/11 | NYU | L, 0-3 |
| 2/12 | Springfield | W, 3-2 |
| 2/16 | @ NJIT | L, 2-3 |
| 2/19 | AMERICAN | W, 3-0 |
| 2/20 | JUNIATA | W, 3-0 |
| 2/24 | Concordia | L, 1-3 |
| 2/25 | @ NYU | L, 1-3 |
| 2/27 | Harvard | W, 3-0 |
| 3/2 | East Stroudsburg | W, 3-0 |
| 3/3 | RUTGERS | L, 1-3 |
| 3/5 | PENN STATE | L, 0-3 |
| 3/6 | SOUTHAMPTON | W, 3-1 |
| 3/24 | QUEENS | W, 3-0 |
| 4/1 | E. STROUDSBURG | W, 3-0 |
| 4/13 | George Mason | L, 2-3 |
| 4/17 | @ NJIT# | L, 1-3 |
# - EIVA first-round match