Princeton University Athletics
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Volleyball Sweeps NJIT, Assures Itself Winning Season
April 16, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
The Princeton men's volleyball team got its first home sweep of the season Thursday night against NJIT to build on the momentum gained from its second-place finish in the EIVA Tait Division and to assure itself a winning record in 2010.
Princeton used highly efficient offense to control play against the NJIT Highlanders, which fell to 2-19 with the loss. The Tigers, which assured themselves second place in the Tait Division Sunday with a 3-0 victory at George Mason, improved to 12-9 with the 30-27, 30-22, 30-24 win at Dillon Gym. After a slight hiccup in the first set, which saw the Highlanders build a 23-20 lead, Princeton cruised to victory in the final two sets and have now won six straight sets.
Junior outside Vincent Tuminelli, who led Princeton in kills in the first meeting with NJIT this season, recorded a team-best 17 kills Thursday night, while fellow outside Pat Schwagler recorded 14 kills and hit .462 for the match. Senior Carl Hamming continued his strong play over the last week with 12 kills, 10 digs, three blocks and a .476 attack percentage.
As a team, Princeton hit .441 for the match, including a second-set showing of .531 and a third-set performance of .536. Sophomore Scott Liljestrom recorded 39 assists, while junior John Morris recorded 13 of his own while playing most of the third set.
"It was great to see John Morris go in there and play well," head coach Sam Shweisky said. "He brought in energy and kept the offense rolling. I was happy to see Keenan McCarthy take advantage of his start with some solid play in the middle."
McCarthy, starting for a banged-up freshman Michael Dye, and senior Jeff McCown combined for 13 kills and only one error against the Highlanders. Princeton will conclude the regular season against Hay Division champion Rutgers-Newark in a road match Saturday afternoon; Newark has been one of the hottest teams in the EIVA, including a home victory over Penn State already this season.