Men's Volleyball is EIVA Championship Bound! Princeton Defeats NJIT 3-1 in EIVA Semifinals

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University Park, PA. – The No. 15 Princeton Men's Volleyball team is EIVA Championship bound!

After defeating NJIT on Thursday afternoon 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19) the Tigers have earned themselves another opportunity to compete in Rec Hall in the 2023 EIVA Championship Final on Saturday, April 22nd at 7 p.m.

This is the fourth, consecutive time that the Tigers have advanced to the EIVA Championship match.

After defeating the No. 6 seeded Highlanders, the No. 2 seeded Tigers will face the winner of Thursday's second semifinal match with No. 1 seed Penn State and No. 4 seed George Mason.

The Tiger offense dominated In Saturday's semifinals with NJIT. Just one week prior, Princeton defeated NJIT on their home court in Dillon Gymnasium 3-1 and the team's confidence shined in Rec Hall knowing they could take another victory over the Highlanders.

First-Team All-EIVA selection, Ben Harrington, led the Tigers with 16 kills. Brady Wedbush and Nyherowo Omene each nabbed four aces to lead Princeton.

Ryan Vena recorded a season high six blocks against NJIT, and Brady Wedbush led Princeton with four digs.

Second-Team All-EIVA selection, Henry Wedbush, set Princeton up for success through four gritty sets, totaling 43 for the match.

"I am very proud of this team for putting a well-balanced game together and hitting .379% as a group orgnaized by Henry Wedbush is impressive," head coach, Sam Shweisky said. "You also have to credit both Ben Harrington and Owen Mellon who led the match in kills this evening; Ben with 16 on .393% hitting and Owen with 12 on .455% in his first EIVA semifinal. I am really proud of the team's performance against NJIT and excited to see what we can do in the finals on Saturday."

Princeton came out on fire in Thursday's opening set, taking the first set with a score of 25-19. The team displayed their strength and confidence from the start, with first year Tigers' Owen Mellon and Ryan Vena making an impact on the court in their EIVA semi-final debuts.

Despite Ben Harrington knocking down six kills in set two, Princeton fell to the Highlanders in a tight set, 25-23. Even with Thursday's match tied up the Tigers did not lose their poise or confidence on the court and made the necessary adjustments to get back on top.

Set three sparked an offensive rhythm in Princeton, who managed to take a five-point scoring run featuring back-to-back aces from Nyherowo Omene to lead 10-3. Brady Wedbush also contributed a trio of kills. The Highlanders were unable to catch up to Princeton, who won a victorious third set 25-14 to take the match lead 2-1.

The Tigers were able to take care of business to win set four 25-29 and advance to Saturday's championship match. Henry Wedbush organized the Tiger offense to dominate one, final set, with kills coming from all over the court. Ryan Vena, Nyherowo Omene, Owen Mellon, and Ben Harrington all knocked down kills in Thursday's fourth set to earn Princeton the 3-1 victory over the Highlanders. Princeton earns the season sweep over NJIT, going 3-0 in matches for 2023 with the fellow Garden State rival.

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