Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Volleyball Opens EIVA Play With New Division Rivals, Including Harvard
February 07, 2012 | Men's Volleyball
Not many Princeton teams can consider Harvard a new divisional rival, but the men's volleyball team will do so when it opens EIVA play this weekend. The Tigers will open the league season Friday at Sacred Heart before taking on Harvard Saturday afternoon.
The men's volleyball team is 1-2 after its season-opening California road trip. The Tigers dropped their first two matches before rallying for a hard-fought 3-2 win at UC-San Diego. Princeton had dropped the first two sets against the Tritons, but a 22-kill effort from freshman Cody Kessel guided Princeton to three straight victories to clinch the exciting comeback.
Kessel has been Princeton's most explosive player, recording both 3.6 kills and 4.2 points per set. Junior Michael Dye, in his third year as a starter, hasn't been far behind with 1.8 kills and 2.2 points per set, but freshman middle Will Siroky has been a big early contributor with team highs in both hitting percentage (.415) and total bocks (12, tied with Kessel).
Senior Scott Liljestrom has been the glue for a very young offense. He is averaging 8.9 assists per set, and Princeton is hitting .230 as a team. If you take out the 3-0 loss to nationally ranked Long Beach State, that percentage would be closer to .300.
Princeton, which has struggled in EIVA road play over the last two seasons, would like nothing more than a fast start this season. Sacred Heart and Harvard are both new divisional rivals in the consolidated EIVA, which no longer has both a Tait and Hay Division.
Sacred Heart is 3-6 overall, and it lost the first EIVA match of the season 3-0 at Rutgers-Newark. Sophomore Nick Hunt leads the team with 4.5 points per set, while Enzo Mackenzie ranks second in the league with nearly .4 service aces per set.
Harvard won its first four matches of the season, and it will host George Mason Friday night before taking on Princeton. The Crimson, which won a pair of five-game marathons against Princeton last season, has been led by Matt Jones, who leads the EIVA in both kills (4.3) and hitting percentage (.411).