Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association

Princeton’s Tristan Whitfield has been named the EIVA Freshman of the Year for 2024 in a vote of the conference coaches.
The freshman middle blocker was not a starter to open the season, and did not see the court much in the first few weeks, but once he got on the court he had a big impart. He also caused a lot of problems for the opposition.
Whitfield has 57 kills this season, averaging 1.09 kills per set, on .414 hitting. He also has 23 digs and six aces. Where he leaves his mark is his blocking. He has 75 total blocks, nine solo, which trails only five others in the EIVA despite Whitfield playing just over 60 percent of the Tigers’ sets. His 1.32 blocks per set by far leads the conference – Harvard’s Ethan Smith is a distant second at 0.96 blocks per set – and if Whitfield had played a few more sets to be eligible (67 percent of a team’s sets played) he would appear second in the nation, just behind Long Beach State’s Simon Torwie’s 1.34 blocks per set.
He has nine matches this season of five or more blocks, including eight of his last 12 contests. His best outing came during the Tigers’ final regular-season series, with 11 blocks, three solo, in a five-set loss to Charleston.
The Virginia Beach, Va., product has played in 18 of Princeton’s 23 matches, starting a dozen of them.
Whitfield is the Tigers’ second Freshman of the Year winner in three seasons, joining 2022 winner Ben Harrington.
Princeton opens the EIVA Championship Tournament at 4:30 p.m. April 17 as the No. 3 seed, getting a rematch with No. 6 seed Charleston. The tournament will be held at Penn State’s Rec Hall.