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Thrilling Five-Game Victory Pushes Princeton Volleyball Into EIVA Semifinal

Four consecutive Princeton-Juniata matches had gone five games. With a berth in the EIVA semifinals at stake Sunday afternoon, why should a fifth match be any different? A brilliant performance by Phillip Rosenberg, balanced hitting and one of the best blocking days in recent Princeton history led the young Tigers to a 3-2 win over Juniata in front of a raucous Dillon Gym crowd.

The 30-22, 34-36, 30-24, 25-30, 15-8 victory sends Princeton into its first EIVA semifinal since the 2003 season, when every member of the current roster was still in high school. The fourth-seeded Tigers will play the No. 7 and top-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions, who went undefeated in the league season and won all six games against Princeton during the year. The other semifinal will send third-seeded George Mason, a 3-0 winner over East Stroudsburg, against second-seeded St. Francis. Both semifinals will be played Thursday at Penn State, with the two winners matching up Saturday evening in State College for the EIVA title and one of four berths to the NCAA tournament.

"It's nice to get back there," said Princeton head coach Glenn Nelson, whose 1998 Princeton team is the last squad other than Penn State to win an EIVA title. "With only two seniors starting, it will be a good experience. Penn State is very good, but we'll go up there, give them a fight and see what happens."

Four Princeton players recorded double-digit kills, including junior outside hitter Peter Eichler, who led the Tigers with 18. Rosenberg had 13 kills to go along with 14 digs and four blocks in arguably the best match of his young career. Sophomore Mike Vincent hit .458 with 12 kills and eight blocks, while Evan Pasion recorded 10 kills, no errors, 11 blocks and an attack percentage of .588. Sophomore Brandon Denham had a match-high 53 assists. As a team, Princeton hit .248 and recorded 23.0 team blocks.

The Tigers came out and played superb volleyball in the opener, hitting .357 in the game one win. Eichler had six kills while Vincent recorded two solo blocks and assisted with Reid Joseph on a third. The home team had several swings to make it a 2-0 lead, but Juniata valiantly fought back. After saving several match balls, Juniata got an ace from Matt Werle and a kill from Evan Halteman to close out a 36-34 win. It was reminiscent of the regular season showdown at Dillon Gym, when the Eagles rallied in the third game to earn a 37-35 win.

"It was important to come out quickly in that third game," Eichler said. "Juniata is a very good team, and we were all prepared for a fight today."

Just as it did in the regular season, Princeton bounced back quickly after a tight loss and grabbed an 11-7 lead on a block and an attack error. Although Juniata wouldn't let the deficit get out of hand, and even tied the score on several occasions, Princeton never gave up the lead. With the score tied 22-21, Princeton won five of six points to open a 27-22 edge. The final point of the run was a solo block by Rosenberg that had the crowd on its feet and the Tigers in an uproar. A kill by Vincent, who hit four of his five swings for winners, ended the game at 30-24.

Princeton's only game without effective hitting would be the fourth, when the Tigers made nine errors and hit only .033 in a 30-25 loss. Princeton did offer a late rally that cut a 27-22 lead down to 27-25, but three straight errors sent the match and a place in the league semifinals into a one-game showdown.

The Tigers got out to leads of 2-0 and 5-1 before Juniata claimed four straight points to even the score at 5. A service error gave Princeton a 6-5 edge, and a combo block by Vincent and Rosenberg built the edge back to two points. Vincent then found a short corner on a broken play to extend the edge to three points, and Juniata would only cut the defict to two once more after that. Leading 9-7, Princeton went on a 3-0 run on a solo block by Denham, a kill by Pasion and a Juniata error. At match ball, with the crowd on its feet, Princeton dug one final hit and passed to Denham. The sophomore setter who did such a solid job running the offense found one of his trusted middles in the final point. Pasion did the rest, killing the ball in the back right corner to conclude the final match he will ever play at Dillon Gym.

It just won't be the final match he will play, as he and the rest of the Princeton squad will look to shock the volleyball world Thursday night.

"This was a total team win," Eichler said. "Everybody contributed, the bench guys pushed up and the crowd was great. We really wanted to get to this point, since Princeton hadn't done it since 2003. Now we get to play Penn State, and it's going to be a blast up there. They're very good, but we'll give them a fight."



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2006-07 News Archives 2005-06 \| 2006-07 \| 2007-08 \| 2008-09 Thrilling Five-Game Victory Pushes Princeton Volleyball Into EIVA Semifinal Four consecutive Princeton-Juniata matches had gone five games. With a berth in the EIVA semifinals at stake Sunday afternoon, why should a fifth match be any different? A brilliant performance by Phillip Rosenberg, balanced hitting and one of the best blocking days in recent Princeton history led the young Tigers to a 3-2 win over Juniata in front of a raucous Dillon Gym crowd. The 30-22, 34-36, 30-24, 25-30, 15-8 victory sends Princeton into its first EIVA semifinal since the 2003 season, when every member of the current roster was still in high school. The fourth-seeded Tigers will play the No. 7 and top-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions, who went undefeated in the league season and won all six games against Princeton during the year. The other semifinal will send third-seeded George Mason, a 3-0 winner over East Stroudsburg, against second-seeded St. Francis. Both semifinals will be played Thursday at Penn State, with the two winners matching up Saturday evening in State College for the EIVA title and one of four berths to the NCAA tournament. "It's nice to get back there," said Princeton head coach Glenn Nelson, whose 1998 Princeton team is the last squad other than Penn State to win an EIVA title. "With only two seniors starting, it will be a good experience. Penn State is very good, but we'll go up there, give them a fight and see what happens." Four Princeton players recorded double-digit kills, including junior outside hitter Peter Eichler, who led the Tigers with 18. Rosenberg had 13 kills to go along with 14 digs and four blocks in arguably the best match of his young career. Sophomore Mike Vincent hit .458 with 12 kills and eight blocks, while Evan Pasion recorded 10 kills, no errors, 11 blocks and an attack percentage of .588. Sophomore Brandon Denham had a match-high 53 assists. As a team, Princeton hit .248 and recorded 23.0 team blocks. The Tigers came out and played superb volleyball in the opener, hitting .357 in the game one win. Eichler had six kills while Vincent recorded two solo blocks and assisted with Reid Joseph on a third. The home team had several swings to make it a 2-0 lead, but Juniata valiantly fought back. After saving several match balls, Juniata got an ace from Matt Werle and a kill from Evan Halteman to close out a 36-34 win. It was reminiscent of the regular season showdown at Dillon Gym, when the Eagles rallied in the third game to earn a 37-35 win. "It was important to come out quickly in that third game," Eichler said. "Juniata is a very good team, and we were all prepared for a fight today." Just as it did in the regular season, Princeton bounced back quickly after a tight loss and grabbed an 11-7 lead on a block and an attack error. Although Juniata wouldn't let the deficit get out of hand, and even tied the score on several occasions, Princeton never gave up the lead. With the score tied 22-21, Princeton won five of six points to open a 27-22 edge. The final point of the run was a solo block by Rosenberg that had the crowd on its feet and the Tigers in an uproar. A kill by Vincent, who hit four of his five swings for winners, ended the game at 30-24. Princeton's only game without effective hitting would be the fourth, when the Tigers made nine errors and hit only .033 in a 30-25 loss. Princeton did offer a late rally that cut a 27-22 lead down to 27-25, but three straight errors sent the match and a place in the league semifinals into a one-game showdown. The Tigers got out to leads of 2-0 and 5-1 before Juniata claimed four straight points to even the score at 5. A service error gave Princeton a 6-5 edge, and a combo block by Vincent and Rosenberg built the edge back to two points. Vincent then found a short corner on a broken play to extend the edge to three points, and Juniata would only cut the defict to two once more after that. Leading 9-7, Princeton went on a 3-0 run on a solo block by Denham, a kill by Pasion and a Juniata error. At match ball, with the crowd on its feet, Princeton dug one final hit and passed to Denham. The sophomore setter who did such a solid job running the offense found one of his trusted middles in the final point. Pasion did the rest, killing the ball in the back right corner to conclude the final match he will ever play at Dillon Gym. It just won't be the final match he will play, as he and the rest of the Princeton squad will look to shock the volleyball world Thursday night. "This was a total team win," Eichler said. "Everybody contributed, the bench guys pushed up and the crowd was great. We really wanted to get to this point, since Princeton hadn't done it since 2003. Now we get to play Penn State, and it's going to be a blast up there. They're very good, but we'll give them a fight."