Princeton University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Runs Win Streak To Five
February 21, 2004 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 21, 2004
PRINCETON - The men's volleyball team won its fifth straight contest and improved to .500 in the EIVA Tait Division with a 3-0 win over George Mason. The Tigers had to use late-game heroics in each game to win a trio of close decisions.
This was an important win for Princeton (7-4; 2-2 EIVA Tait), as it looks to stay in the top four of the league and earn a home match in the EIVA quarterfinals. George Mason (0-10; 0-3 EIVA Tait) is below Princeton, but a win for the Patriots would have moved them ahead of the Tigers by a half game. Instead, the Tigers are now 2-2 in the division, and can make a major case for home court Friday night when they host Rutgers-Newark at 7 p.m.
Each game followed a similar script. Princeton would jump out to an early lead, and Mason would make a late rally, including a couple that put them ahead with only a few points remaining. The Tigers came up with the big kills when needed, most of which came from outside hitter Blake Robinson and middle hitter Brian Hamming. Robinson had one of his most effective hitting days of the season, killing 20 balls in 39 attempts with only six errors (.359 hitting percentage). Brian Hamming was his usual consistent self, hitting .500 for the match with 14 kills. Sean Vitousek had a complete match, with eight kills, four digs, four blocks and two aces. The offense was led by Jason Liljestrom, who recorded 51 assists.
The Tigers outhit George Mason .312 to .181, and they had a match-best .406 percentage in the opening game.
Felix Campos led the Patriots with 20 kills, while Arturo Barreiro had nine.