Princeton University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts Critical Match Tonight At 7:00
February 27, 2004 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 27, 2004
PRINCETON - Two of the hottest teams in the EIVA will take the court tonight in Dillon Gym, as the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Knights (9-4, 6-1) will look to complete a season sweep of the Princeton Tigers (7-4, 2-2). A win would put Princeton back in the hunt for at least a No. 2 seed in the EIVA playoffs.
The top six teams of the EIVA Tait Division make the postseason, and Princeton currently stands alone in fourth. Penn State is 5-0 in the league, followed by Rutgers-Newark at 6-1. Juniata is 4-2, and Princeton is 2-2. Both Rutgers and Juniata have defeated Princeton this season, although both were road contests for the Tigers.
Rutgers handled Princeton with relative ease in the opening match of the league season for the Tigers. Princeton, following a long layoff from its California trip, lost 3-0 to the Scarlet Raiders, with game scores of 30-22, 30-26 and 30-20. As a team, Rutgers hit close to .400 in that match, including a .517 performance in the opening game.
Since that match, and a loss at Juniata days later, Princeton has won five matches in a row. The hitting has been led by outside hitter Blake Robinson, who is fifth in the league with 4.37 kills per game, and middle hitter Brian Hamming, who is also fifth in the league with a .465 hitting percentage. They will have to be their best against the Rutgers defense, which is second in the EIVA with 3.12 blocks per game. Henry Richardson is tops in the league with 1.43 blocks per game.