Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Second-Seeded Volleyball Looking For History During EIVA Title Weekend
April 27, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Senior co-captain Carl Hamming smiled after last weekend's quarterfinal victory over Sacred Heart, when his team punched its first ticket for the EIVA semifinals since 2007. He spoke of hearing all about the history of the Princeton program, and how no team has reached an Eastern final since 1998; he'd like nothing more than to become part of that history.
Princeton entered the 2010 EIVA Championships as the second seed, its best ever in the league playoffs, and overcame an early scare to top seventh-seeded Sacred Heart 3-1 last Saturday to qualify for the semifinals. Each of the top four seeds will compete for the league title this weekend in State College: top-seed and host Penn State will take on fourth-seeded Springfield and Princeton will host third-seeded George Mason.
The Princeton-Mason semifinal will begin Thursday's session at 5:30 p.m., while the second semifinal is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. The two winning teams will meet Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall for both the EIVA title and one of four spots in the 2010 NCAA Championships, which will be held the following weekend at Stanford.
Tickets for each night are $8 for adults and $5 for students. For those who can't make either session at Penn State, matches can be seen live via video feed on the Penn State athletics web site (with a small fee), and free live stats will also be available for all three matches.
Princeton earned the second seed with a 5-5 record in the Tait Division, which included a sweep of George Mason. The Tigers trailed 7-2 and 14-13 in the fifth set of a 3-2 home victory over the Patriots, then earned its first Tait road win of the season with a 3-0 sweep in the regular season finale.
Of course, being swept by Princeton isn't likely to faze an experienced Mason squad; the Patriots earned their 10th straight trip to the EIVA semifinals by sweeping Rutgers-Newark last Saturday. Prior to that match, Rutgers was 2-0 against Mason during the season.
The Princeton-Mason rivalry has been even over the last four years, with each team winning four times apiece. Princeton has had the upper hand recently, winning three straight, but Mason is 2-0 when the two teams have met this decade in the EIVA playoffs (2001, 2004).
Princeton has been fairly balanced in its two matches with Mason this season. Junior Vincent Tuminelli has a team-best 3.9 kills per set in the two matches, while freshman Pat Schwagler — the EIVA Top Newcomer of the Year — and Carl Hamming both have 3.6 kills per set. Hamming was brilliant in the road sweep, recording 22 kills and hitting .559 in the late-season win, while both Tuminelli and Schwagler had at least 20 kills in the five-set home win.
Thanks in part to the play of second-team All-East setter Scott Liljestrom, who is averaging 14.5 assists per set against Mason, and first-team All-East middle Jeff McCown, who hit .351 in the two matches, Princeton hit .282 against Mason on the season. That is a sizable edge over Mason's .229 attack percentage, although the Patriots counter with better numbers in both blocks (3.7-2.6) and digs (7.2-7.0).
A Princeton win Thursday would give the Tigers' their first berth in the EIVA final since 1998, when it defeated Rutgers-Newark to earn its only trip to the NCAA Championships. Barring a stunner in the nightcap, Princeton would face top-seeded Penn State in the final; the only year that Penn State didn't win an EIVA title was 1998, when it lost to Princeton in the semifinal.
“I am so proud of the work and determination that the guys have put into this season," head coach Sam Shweisky said. "They keep fighting no matter what the circumstances and keep striving to improve. We are very excited to be headed to Penn State to play in the EIVA Final Four.”