Men's Volleyball Set To Open 2018 Princeton Athletics Year With Season Debut At #12 USC

Tuesday, January 2

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM PT

Princeton University

USC

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Men's Volleyball Set To Open 2018 Princeton Athletics Year With Season Debut At #12 USC

December 31, 2017 | Men's Volleyball

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When the Princeton men's volleyball team takes the court at USC Tuesday night at 10 pm ET (7 pm local), the Tigers will be doing more than opening their own season, one filled with optimism and anticipation. They will also be starting a new year for Princeton Athletics, following a thrilling and wild 12-month journey for the Tigers' 37 varsity teams.

The men's volleyball team may not have had the dramatic postseason success of some of its peers, but it did its part in adding excitement and intrigue to the last 12 months at Old Nassau. For the first time this century, the Tigers held match ball against eventual EIVA champion Penn State in multiple matches — including their first-ever five-set match in State College — and they produced a pair of All-EIVA freshmen, including EIVA Newcomer of the Year George Huhmann.

That optimism was apparent in the EIVA preseason poll, where Princeton was picked to finish second (behind Penn State). While much of the excitement comes from the play of Huhmann and fellow All-EIVA classmate Parker Dixon, the Tigers also return a two-time All-East middle in Junior Oboh, who could become one of the toughest two-way players in the conference. A two-time EIVA Defensive Player of the Week last season, Oboh led Princeton with a .432 attack percentage; if he had three more swings, he would have qualified for the EIVA rankings and led the league by more than .45.

Dixon and Huhmann combined for nearly 480 kills last season, and both received exciting opportunities with the Junior National Team training program in the summer. Huhmann made the team, which placed 14th at the FIVB Men's U21 World Championship. Those two, along with the rest of the team, will likely have to find a quick offensive chemistry following the graduation of senior setter Jonah May. Head coach Sam Shweisky, coming off his own two-year run as the head coach of the USA Youth National Team, brought in a pair of setters in Joe Kelly and Niko Gjaja, and both will compete for time in leading a young Princeton offense.

Shweisky wants Princeton tested early and often before the EIVA season begins, and the Tigers will get that first test Tuesday night at 12th-ranked USC. The Trojans will actually be the lowest-ranked team the Tigers play during their first week of competition, as they will see #2 Long Beach State, #8 Stanford and #11 Cal-State Northridge the rest of the week.