Princeton University Athletics
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Volleyball Falls In Season Opener At NAIA Power Cal-Baptist
January 26, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Despite a team-best 14 kills during an impressive collegiate debut by freshman outside Pat Schwagler, the Princeton men's volleyball team dropped its 2010 season opener 3-1 at Cal-Baptist, the No. 1 school in the NAIA national rankings.
In the debut of head coach Sam Shweisky, Princeton showed resolve with a third-game rally before ultimately falling 30-24, 30-21, 28-30, 30-19 to the Lancers, who were playing their eighth match of the season. The schedule doesn't get any easier, as Princeton takes on the reigning NCAA Division I champion Cal-Irvine Anteaters Tuesday night during the middle match of a three-game road trip.
"The guys did a nice job of handling some strong service pressure from Cal-Baptist and converting for a high sideout percentage," Shweisky said. "Scotty distributed the ball well and orchestrated a balanced attack. The match energized the guys, we're excited to take on the NCAA defending champs tomorrow night."
Schwagler and fellow outside Vincent Tuminelli combined for 26 of Princeton's 49 kills, and both hit over .200 for the match. Tuminelli, in his second year as a starter, hit a team-best .304 and matched Schwagler with seven digs. Senior co-captain Carl Hamming recorded 10 kills, nine digs and five blocks in a strong all-around effort, while Scott Liljestrom paced the offense with 44 assists in his first collegiate start at setter.
Two other freshman making their debuts were starting middle Michael Dye, who had seven kills and two blocks, and libero Sean Cotter. Senior co-captain and fellow middle Jeff McCown recorded four kills and two aces. As a team, Princeton hit a respectable .232 for the match, but its defense could not stand up against the experienced Lancers, who hit .450 and outblocked Princeton 12-5.
Cal-Baptist had control of the first two sets, but the first signs of the team Shweisky believes can contend for a spot in the EIVA final appeared in the third set. A 4-0 run early on the McCown serve gave Princeton an edge it maintained throughout the match, and a second 4-0 run on the Dye serve extended the lead to 19-13. Princeton faced adversity late when Cal-Baptist cut the deficit to one point at 29-28, but a final Tiger kill saved the game. The Lancers were too strong in the fourth and pulled away for their fifth win of the season.