Princeton Seeks More History (And More Home Matches) During Home Regular Season Finale Weekend

Friday, April 12

Princeton, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Saint Francis

Photo by: @fabianabeatrizphoto

Princeton Seeks More History (And More Home Matches) During Home Regular Season Finale Weekend

April 10, 2019 | Men's Volleyball

Princeton vs. Saint Francis: Live Video l Live Stats
Princeton vs. Penn State: Live Video l Live Stats

Since Feb. 24, 2018, the Princeton men's volleyball team has put together a run through the EIVA like none other this century.

The Tigers, who clinched at least a share of their first-ever league regular-season title last weekend, have won 18 of their last 24 EIVA matches — a run that includes 11 of 12 this year.

Princeton will look for even more program history this weekend when it hosts both St. Francis (Friday, 7 pm) and Penn State (Saturday, 7 pm) at Dillon Gym. With a victory in either match, the Tigers will assure themselves as host of the EIVA playoffs for the first time in school history; those playoffs would take place Thursday (5 pm/8 pm) and Saturday (7 pm) in Dillon Gym.

Playing the postseason in New Jersey has worked out well for the Tigers; the only time they ever won the EIVA title was in 1998, when the playoffs were held at Rutgers-Newark.

There have been plenty of standouts for Princeton during its run to the top of the EIVA standings this season, but few have matched the performance of All-American junior George Huhmann last weekend. He poured in a career-high 28 kills and hit .471 to help eliminate the defending champion Harvard Crimson from playoff contention. Huhmann earned EIVA Player of the Week honors for the second time this season, matching classmate Parker Dixon for multiple honors in 2019.

Both opponents this weekend have clinched a spot in the EIVA postseason (George Mason is also assured of the fourth and final position), but both also have the potential to get home court for the EIVA postseason if everything breaks right. Saint Francis, the only team with an EIVA win over Princeton so far this season, would need to win both matches this weekend, have Penn State beat Princeton, but also lose to NJIT Friday night. Penn State could host with a sweep, though the Nittany Lions would benefit from Saint Francis beating NJIT to make it a three-team tie at the top; they could actually win both matches and still have to come back to Dillon Gym if NJIT wins Saturday.

Confused? That's OK. The scenario is much simpler for the Tigers. Win once, and stay in the friendly confines of Dillon Gym.

While the Tigers will be trying to extend the home careers of seniors Billy Andrew, Kendall Ratter and captain Corry Short, they will also honor that trio Saturday night on Senior Day. Andrew has been a consistent member of the starting lineup this season, and he needs only two kills and three blocks this weekend to reach 150 and 100 in his career in both respective categories. Ratter enters the weekend with 666 career kills, and he had 13 two weeks ago in a key road win at George Mason. His most dramatic moment of the season — and maybe in all of EIVA play this spring — was when he served three consecutive aces on the final three points of a 16-14 comeback win over NJIT in the fifth set of a thriller in Newark. Short has been one of Princeton's most vocal leaders since he first put on the Orange and Black, and he has been a defensive leader as libero for the team over the last three years. He enters the weekend with 378 career digs, including a season-best eight in an earlier victory over Penn State.