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Princeton Pushes Past NJIT To Reach Third In EIVA Tait
March 05, 2008 | Men's Volleyball
Outside hitter Peter Eichler and middle Mike Vincent both earned All-East honors in 2007. Based on their play in Wednesday night's 3-1 victory over NJIT, the two are clearly looking for league honors again this season. Eichler recorded 24 kills and 10 digs, while Vincent killed 12 balls on 14 swings in a 3-1 victory over the Highlanders.
Princeton moved to 8-5 overall, 3-3 in the EIVA Tait Division, with a 30-22, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22 victory, while NJIT fell to 7-7, 2-6 in the Tait. The Tigers now share third place with both Juniata and St. Francis, while NJIT stands sixth. The top six teams in the division will all make the league playoffs, and the top four receive byes to the quarterfinals.
Eichler, coming off a very strong showing in a 3-1 win over then-No. 11 George Mason, hit .455 and led all players with his 24 kills. Fellow outside Phillip Rosenberg wasn't too far behind, as he added 16 kills and a .393 attack percentage. Nobody came close to Vincent, who was nearly perfect on the evening. He hit .857 for the match and didn't record a single error, and he added seven blocks to lead the defense. Junior setter Brandon Denham paced the offense with 58 assists and added a handful of timely kills late in the match. Princeton hit .483 as a team for the match.
After hitting a team-best .556 in a comfortable game one victory, the Princeton defense struggled in the second game. NJIT improved its hitting from -.030 to .556 in the span of one game and evened the score at one game apiece. The Highlanders, who were led by Eduardo Welter's 20 kills, had early control of the third game and led 22-17 before Princeton got rolling again. An Eichler kill got Princeton to 23-20, and a block by Jeff McCown and Cameron Heggi would get the deficit to two points. An NJIT error and a service ace from Eichler, the EIVA leader in aces, would force the game's first tie since 1-1. The score would be tied at 24, 25 and 26 before a Highlander service error and a combo block by Denham and Vincent gave Princeton its first two-point lead of the match. Eichler ended it with a kill at 30-27, and Princeton dug out of an early 4-0 hole in the fourth game to run away with a 30-22 win in the finale.
Princeton will host East Stroudsburg Friday night in the sixth contest of a seven-match homestand. Princeton is undefeated at Dillon Gym so far this season.