Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. Francis University
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Vincent Powers Volleyball To Stunning 3-2 Comeback Victory
February 07, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
The Princeton men's volleyball team started its season with five matches that were all decided by 3-0 scores. The Tigers hadn't faced a dramatic moment yet, nor had they picked up a big victory, but they took care of both in style with a thrilling 3-2 victory at St. Francis (Pa.) Saturday to split an EIVA road weekend.
Senior middle Mike Vincent, a 2008 All-East selection, had one of the greatest matches of his career, and he was the hero at the end. Vincent had 21 kills on 27 swings with only two errors for a .704 attack percentage. He added six blocks, including two in Princeton's decisive fifth-game run. Jeff McCown had 15 kills and hit .444 for the match, while Carl Hamming overcame a tough Friday match against Juniata with 13 kills, seven digs and a team-high four aces, including one on match point. Freshman Vincent Tuminelli recorded the first double-double of his career with 14 kills and 12 digs, while Brandon Denham had 68 digs and 10 assists in leading the team to victory. Senior outside Phil Rosenberg nearly had a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs, while senior libero Ka'ohu Berg-Hee recorded 13 kills.
The win moves Princeton to 2-4 overall, 1-1 in the EIVA Tait Division. Saint Francis, which had the best early-season win in the league with a road win at 2008 finalist George Mason, fell to 5-3, 2-2.
St. Francis was one point away from victory on six different occasions, but the Tigers always had an answer. The Red Flash took the first two games 30-26 and 30-28, and held a 29-28 lead with a chance to send Princeton to a disappointing 0-2 start in the league.
That's when the magic started for Princeton, although St. Francis helped a little early. A service error cost the Flash its first match ball, and following a Tuminelli kill at 30-31, St. Francis lost a third and fourth match ball on a service error. Kills from Vincent and Tuminelli saved the fifth and sixth ones, and the latter tied the game at 36-36. With Denham serving, Princeton was able to fight off a pair of swings and got kills from McCown and Tuminelli to earn an improbable 38-36 victory.
The fourth game saw St. Francis race to a 15-10 lead, but Princeton got back into it with five of the next six points. A block by McCown and Hamming finally evened the score at 19-19; it would remain tied through 22-22 before Princeton went on an 8-3 run to claim a 30-25 win. The Tigers got two kills apiece from Vincent and Hamming during that stretch, as well as a game-winning kill from Rosenberg.
As if that wasn't enough, there was still a game five to be played, and that carried more than enough drama. To St. Francis' credit, it bounced back from two crushing losses and again jumped out to a five-point lead (10-5). Fifth games go to 15 points, so typically a team that gets ahead by five goes on to win. Of course, a team that holds six match balls typically wins too.
Princeton started to sideout and trailed 13-9 when it put on its final run of the night, and it was almost all done by Vincent. A kill and a combo block with Denham cut the deficit to 13-11. He killed the next two balls to get the score to 13-13 and force a timeout call. St. Francis' Alex Fortney tried to earn a seventh match ball, but his swing was blocked by Vincent and Rosenberg, and after more than two hours of play, Princeton had its first match ball. Vincent never had a chance to win the final point; instead, Hamming served up Princeton's fifth ace of the match to clinch the win.