NEWARK, NJ—Princeton, which reached the final of the 2014 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association postseason tournament, began 2015 EIVA play in a big way, coming to NJIT and sweeping the Highlanders, 25-14, 25-12, and 25-21 Friday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
The win in the EIVA opener for both teams, raises Princeton's overall record to 3-4, while the Highlanders dropped to 4-3 with the end of the four-matching winning streak they brought into play Friday. All six of Princeton's previous matches were played in volleyball-strong California, five against teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national Top 15 at the time they faced the Tigers.
Princeton got 13 kills from senior Cody Kessel, an honorable mention All-America in 2014, and 10 kills from freshman Kendall Ratter. On top of that, Devin Stearns, Junior Oboh, and Alex Schindele-Mura notched a combined 15 kills with just two errors.
As a team, Princeton had 39 kills and just 9 errors in 68 attempts for a .441 hitting percentage. In dominating the opening two sets, the Tigers hit for overwhelming percentages of .545 and .643, respectively, as they made just one attack error in each frame.
In the most competitive set of the night, Princeton had a more down-to-earth hitting percentage of .281 (16 kills, 7 errors, 32 attempts). At the same time, NJIT, which struggled to a .158 hitting percentage in losing the opening set 25-14, and then had a negative (more errors than kills) hitting percentage in the 25-12 second set, got 10 kills with 5 errors (.200 hitting percentage) in the one close set (25-21 in the third).
Senior
Kajetan Borecki was the only effective high-volume hitter for the Highlanders, notching 10 kills with 5 errors in 22 swings.
Princeton setter Chris Kennedy compiled 34 assists and the Tigers dominant the serving game, with 7 aces to one for the home team. Kessel and Oboh each served a pair of aces.
On defense, Princeton enjoyed a 9.0-to-4.0 edge in total team blocks, led six (1solo, 5 assisted) from Oboh and four (1 solo, 3 assisted) by the setter, Kennedy.
The Tigers didn't need many digs to secure the win, but Ratter was the leader with five.
TJ Jurko had NJIT's only service ace and
Zak Robben collected 20 assists. On defense,
Jabarry Goodridge had a team-best six digs and
Ryan Thomas picked up three block assists to lead NJIT at the net.
Princeton opened the match with a 5-1 lead and eventually went up 14-4 before cruising through the opening set, 25-14. With Kessel posting five kills on six swings without an error, the visitors rolled in the second set, 25-12.
The third set, ultimately won by Princeton, 25-21, saw three lead changes and three ties, as Borecki had five kills in nine attempts for NJIT.
The Highlanders started the set with a 4-1 lead and didn't fall behind until 8-9. They rallied back and took a 10-9 lead on a Borecki kill and a Princeton attack error. But the Tigers responded with four points and took the lead for good.
Even though NJIT trailed the rest of the set, the Highlanders got within a point of the lead three more times, the last at 16-17.
The score was 20-18, Princeton, when the Tigers went on another 3-0 run and then eased into the 25-21 win.
NJIT steps back out of the EIVA, heading to Hoboken, NJ, for a Wednesday night visit to traditional North Jersey rival Stevens in a 7 pm start.
