No. 19 Princeton Shuts Out Harvard 3-0 in Game One

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PRINCETON, N.J. – With a strong performance team-wide, the no. 19 Princeton men's volleyball team defeated Harvard 3-0 (25-23, 31-29, 25-18) on Friday night in Dillon Gym.

With the win, Princeton improves to 12-9 on the season and 8-1 in the EIVA.

Nyherowo Omene led the Tigers with 18 kills, while first-year Mason Rice added 16. Omene hit .446 on the night, while Rice had an impressive .556.

Henry Wedbush dished out 45 assists on the night. Defensively, Omene led again with six digs. Tristan Whitfield had a team-high three blocks.

How It Happened
Entering the match, Harvard came out with momentum as the Crimson built up a three-point lead early. The Tigers worked to get out of hot water fast, though, as they tied it up at seven, nine, and eleven as they looked to take the lead.

The Tigers would find themselves trailing by a few points again, but with big kills from Owen Mellon, Vena and Omene, Princeton tied it up at 19. Pushing toward set point, Omene produced another two kills, with Whitfield contributing a block and another kill, and the Tigers were able to edge out Harvard 25-23 to end set one.

Set two started similarly, with the Crimson taking the first few points. Princeton was able to shift momentum quickly, though, turning the lead to their favor before Harvard tied it at eight. Going point-for-point, both sides continued to score with three more ties through 16 points.

Closing in on set point, the Tigers found themselves down 21-19, when a big kill from Omene and another hammer by Rice tied it at 21.
Rice went on to score the Tigers' 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th points as the set pushed on past 25.

Continuing to go point for point, the Tigers and Crimson continued, until the Tigers were able to get ahead with an ace by Omene and a kill by Vena, which called set two for Princeton, 31-29.

Set three began even between the two sides, with Harvard and Princeton picking up their point-for-point battle from the set before. The Tigers again found themselves trailing by three, but they were able tie it up at 11 and again at 16.

Up by one at 18-17, Princeton went on a 5-0 run, bringing themselves within arm's reach of the sweep. Harvard was able to add one more point, but a kill by Vena and a Crimson attack error would close the set 25-18 and hand Princeton the win, 3-0.

Of Note

Omene reached 1000 career points, with his career total now 1007, which puts him at eighth nationally among active leaders.

Up Next
The Tigers and the Crimson will face off again tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Dillon Gym, with Princeton celebrating senior day as they send off '25 classmates Omene and Wedbush.

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