Men's Volleyball Opens 2022 Season With California Trip

Wednesday, January 12

Los Angeles, Calif.

10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM ET

Princeton University

#12 USC

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Men's Volleyball Opens 2022 Season With California Trip

January 10, 2022 | Men's Volleyball

Match One: Princeton (0-0) vs. #12 USC (2-0)
Date: Wednesday, January 12
First Serve: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
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Match Two: Princeton (0-0) vs. #2 UCLA (0-0)
Date: Saturday, January 15
First Serve: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
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Match Three: Princeton (0-0) vs. #3 Pepperdine (0-0)
Date: Monday, January 17
First Serve: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
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Match Four: Princeton (0-0) vs. CSUN (0-0)
Date: Wednesday, January 19
First Serve: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The Princeton University men's volleyball team will open its 2022 campaign in the state of California, with matches against the #12 University of Southern California, the # 2 University of California, Los Angeles, #3 Pepperdine University, and California State University, Northridge.

The Tigers welcome back ten upperclassmen, including senior Joe Kelly, a two-time All-EIVA Second Team honoree, who was named to the EIVA All-Tournament Team and led the conference in assists in 2019. Senior Jerod Nelsen, a 2020 All-EIVA Second Team selection who was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 4, 2020, and earned a pair of EIVA weekly honors in the same year, is also back for Princeton. Juniors Alexander Mrkalj and Nico Posivak, who each appeared in 14 matches in 2020, along with junior Nate Thompson, who appeared in nine, also return. Senior Parker Dixon is also back for the Tigers.

Additionally, the Tigers welcome return five sophomores and five welcome five first years. Princeton's sophomore class consists of Gavin Leising, Ben Harrington, James Hartley, Charlie Rogers, and Josh Coan, while the Tigers' freshmen are Aiden Benson, Henry Wedbush, Nick Johnson, Matt Suh, and Nyherowo Omene.

Attendance Policies
Indoor athletic events at USC are closed to the general public until at least Friday, January 14, and they are also closed to the general public at CSUN indefinitely.

Scouting #12 USC
#12 USC is 2-0 on the season, most recently defeating the University of California, Santa Barbara, 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22) on Friday, January 7, in Isla Vista, California. Through two matches, Sam Kobrine and Simon Gallas lead the team with 3.67 kills per set, while Chris Hall averages a team-high 10.78 kills per set. Brandon Broning's 2.33 digs per set are a team-high, along with Liam Schroeder's 0.89 blocks per set.

Along with seven newcomers, #12 USC returns 15 from last season's roster, including starters at three positions along with the libero.

In the 2021 season, the #12 Trojans went 5-13 overall and had a 5-12 record in conference play.

Scouting #2 UCLA
Key returners for the #2 Bruins include All-MPSF honorees opposite Cole Ketrzynski and middle blocker Merrick McHenry, along with outside Ethan Champlin, who earned All-Freshman Team honors last season. #2UCLA went 15-6 in 2021, and garnered a 14-5 record in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play.

Scouting #3 Pepperdine
2022 favorites in the MPSF, #3 Pepperdine returns five of its six starters plus the libero. Three returners were All-Americans a season ago (Bryce Dvorak, Spencer Wickens, & Austin Wilmot), while Stanford graduate transfer Jaylen Jasper also garnered All-America honors.

Prior to hosting Princeton, the #3 Waves host Erskine College in a pair of matches on Thursday, January 13, and Friday, January 14. #3 Pepperdine had a 13-7 record in 2021, along with an 11-5 record in MPSF play.

Scouting CSUN
CSUN returns eight from its 2021 team, including two-time All-Big West middle Daniel Wetter, and setter Kyle Merche, along Kyle Hobus, who was honored as Big West Co-Freshman of the Year in 2020.

The Matadors went 2-9 in 2021, and had a 2-9 record in Big West play.