Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Long Beach
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Men's Volleyball Claims Another Ranked Win To Conclude ASICS Invitational
January 11, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
BOX SCORES: Princeton 3, Cal-State Northridge 2 l UCSB 3, Princeton 0
The Princeton men's volleyball team picked up its 10th victory over a ranked team since 1998 — and its fourth in the last three seasons — during a thrilling conclusion to its season-opening ASICS Invitational. The Tigers rallied from an 8-3 hole in the fifth set to knock off 13th-ranked Cal-State Northridge in the final match of the weekend.
Princeton, which was receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll, went 1-2 during the weekend against a trio of nationally ranked teams. In its opening day, Princeton lost 3-0 to both No. 12 Long Beach and No. 4 UC-Santa Barbara, but the Tigers made sure they ended the weekend with an exclamation point.
Senior Cody Kessel, a third-team All-America last season, led Princeton with 21 kills and hit .341 in the 18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13 victory over Northridge. Freshman Kendall Ratter, in his collegiate debut weekend, added 10 kills and eight digs, while senior Will Siroky had eight kills and three blocks.
"I'm really proud of the way we competed the entire match," Shweisky said afterwards. "We tested ourselves against three great teams this weekend, and I believe we will grow from it. I'm looking forward to see how much we improve before we return to California after finals."
After leading 2-1, Princeton dropped the fourth set and found itself down 5-0 in the fifth, and then 8-3 at the switch. Ratter used a long service run to get Princeton back into it, and then sophomore middle Junior Oboh used a big serve on match point to pressure the Northridge offense, which couldn't get off a good swing. Kessel got a swing of his own and completed the victory.
Sophomore Chris Kennedy had 39 assists in the win, while reigning first-team All-EIVA libero Tony Ensbury added five digs. Junior Michael Bagnell added six kills and four digs.
"That first win of the seaons is really important," Siroky said. "It really validates all the work you have put in over the last few months. To get it in comeback fashion is really nice. The guys feel good, and they're excited to get back in the gym."
Siroky has been part of all four nationally ranked wins over the last three years. In 2013, Princeton defeated both No. 12 UC-Santa Barbara and No. 14 Harvard; last season, the Tigers ended a 35-match skid in a wild 3-2 comeback win over No. 10 Penn State.
Princeton will now take the next two weeks off before returning to California to take on UCLA, UC-Irvine and UC-San Diego during the last week of January.