Box score
NEWARK, NJ—It took a 15-13 victory in the fifth and deciding set for visiting Princeton to secure a three- sets-to-two-win (22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13) over NJIT in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action Friday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The win raised Princeton's record to 2-1 in the EIVA and 3-2 overall, while the match was the first this season in the EIVA for NJIT, which drops to 2-8 overall.
Princeton junior Pat Scwhagler was the man of the match, accounting for 29 points, nearly twice the total of any other player on either side (Princeton's Cody Kessel and NJIT's
Kevin Van Oss each accounted for 15.5 points on the night).
A 6-foot-3 outside hitter, Schwagler was a force on offense with a match-best 24 kills (no one else had more than 14) and on defense with a match-best four solo blocks (plus two block assists. The junior was remarkably efficient, as well, putting down 24 kills, with just four errors in 39 swings for a .513 hitting percentage.
Kessel added 13 kills to the Tiger attack and Devin Stearns added 12 kills. David Waddell went the distance at setter for the visitors and notched a match-best 55 assists. Princeton also generated five service aces with two apiece coming from Will Siroky and Michael Dye.
On defense, Tony Ensbury had a match-leading 13 digs on the floor for the Tigers. At the net, Princeton held a decisive 13.5-to-5 team blocking edge in the match. In addition to Schwagler's six individual blocks, Siroky had six block assists and Kessel had five block assists.
Van Oss had a big night for NJIT attacking from the middle, as he produced 14 kills and just one error on 27 attempts (.481), while
Doug Battersby, who had no attacking errors, collected 11 kills in 21 attempts (.524).
Chris Kaepernick also finished in double figures with 10 kills.
NJIT coach Ryan McNeil utilized two setters in the match and
Matthew Lui posted 26 assists, while
Zak Robben helped out on 18 kills. NJIT's service ace leader was
Herman Kantushov, with two.
Brady Smith was the digs leader for the Highlanders with 12, while team blocking honors went to
Kajetan Borecki and Van Oss, each of whom had a block solo and a block assist.
The closeness of the match was reflected by the cumulative scores for five sets, which ended at 105-103 in favor if Princeton. Indeed, each team had 25-22 win and a 25-20 win leading up to the 15-13 deciding set.
NJIT broke on top, taking the first set, 25-22, with the Highlanders finally taking command late with three straight points that extended their lead from 20-19 to 23-19. The final two clinching points for NJIT came on a Princeton service error and then a Tiger attack error.
There were nine ties and two lead changes in the second set, but Princeton claimed the set, 25-22, as Schwagler had seven kills and two block solos in the frame. The Tigers went up to stay at 14-13, but their lead went above two points just once the rest of the way until a kill from Schwagler and then a block by the combination of Kessel and Siroky gave them three-point win in the set.
Princeton took the upper hand with a 25-20 win in the third set that saw the Tigers go ahead for good at 7-6 and lead by at least four from 17-13 on.
NJIT extended the match with a 25-20 win of its own in the fourth set, as the Highlanders took the lead to stay after a
Brad Thele kill made it 11-10. NJIT gradually increased its advantage and closed the set by winning three of the last four points.
Princeton set the tone early in the deciding set, pulling out to a 7-2 lead that included two kills and two block solos for Schwagler. The Highlanders got back into contention with a 6-2 run, closing the gap to 8-9. NJIT got back within a point of the lead four more times and as late as 13-14. But the set and the match had an anticlimactic ending as match point for Princeton came on a serve into the net by the heretofore rallying Highlanders.
Friday night's tilt was the first of eight in a row within the EIVA for NJIT, which will visit George Mason on Saturday for a 7 pm match in Virginia.
