UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Princeton is still alive, even after enduring everything NJIT could fire at the Tigers.
Owen Mellon and Ambrose Engling delivered 20 and 19 kills, respectively, to lead four Tigers in double figures for kills to take a five-set thriller from the Highlanders in the EIVA Championship Tournament semifinals April 23 at Penn State’s Rec Hall.
The 35-37, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11 victory puts No. 6 seed Princeton into the EIVA finals for a third time in four years, facing top-seeded Penn State at 7 p.m. April 25.
The Tigers (8-14, 3-9) made it to the title match despite the best efforts of Highlander opposite Wiktor Nowak, who bombed in a career-high 31 kills on a stunning 67 swings to hit .358. Torching Princeton is nothing unusual for the sophomore. In three matches between the teams this season Nowak has 88 kills on 165 swings to hit .406 with two aces, 10 blocks and 16 digs. The first two meetings he posted 29 and 28 kills, among the five matches this season of 20 or more in a match for Nowak.
The outcome ended a five-match win streak for the Highlanders (18-8, 9-3).
Match notes
The first set took just under an hour to complete, ending 37-35 for the Highlanders. NJIT had seven set points denied and Princeton had five.
The second frame was completely different, with the Tigers using an early 5-0 run and a little later added a 6-1 burst to go ahead 16-8 and cruising.
The third set was clean on both sides of the net, with NJIT posting 18 kills on .385 hitting and Princeton delivering 15 kills on .400 hitting.
The fourth was tight and the teams were knotted at 17-17, then Princeton closed with eight of the final 10 points.
The Tigers continued that momentum up 5-0 to open the fifth, but NJIT fought back to lead 8-7 when the teams changed ends. From there it was the Tigers’ time, with Mellon’s 20th kill capping the night.
The match was filled with EIVA season highs:
Nowak – kills (31), attempts (67)
Nolan Kelly – Assists (64)
Princeton – Team kills (78), Team assists (70)
Stats
Princeton 78-22-158 .354, 70 assists, 3 aces, 59 digs, 10 blocks
Owen Mellon 20 kills, 7 digs
Ambrose Engling 19 kills, .366 Hit%, 13 digs, 5 blocks
Mason Rice 14 kills, .524 Hit%
Ryan Vena 10-0-14 .714 Hit%, 6 digs, 4 blocks
Tristan Whitfield 8 kills, .375 Hit%, 4 assists, 3 blocks
Nolan Kelly 64 assists, 11 digs, 4 blocks
Roan Alviar 13 digs
NJIT 67-25-161 .261, 63 assists, 5 aces, 47 digs, 8 blocks
Wiktor Nowak 31 kills, .358 Hit%, 9 digs, 2 blocks
Andre Aleixo 11 kills, 3 assists, 2 aces, 10 digs
Alex Heins 10 kills, .500 Hit%, 4 blocks
Daniel Latkowski 5 kills, 4 blocks
Bruno Figueiredo 54 assists, 5 blocks
Diego Lopez 14 digs
Post-match Comments
Princeton coach Sam Shweisky
“We kept saying we’re going to try to slow (Nowak) down. We tried. Maybe next year.”
“That’s the resiliency of staying positive and the ‘next point mentality.’ That’s really a special skill. A guy like that, a player like that’s going to get roughly 30 kills every time we played them.”
Nolan Kelly
“When we’re balanced (on offense) that’s when we’re playing our best volleyball, trying to find ways to get each guy involved at each moment because you never know when you’re going to need a big swing in a big moment.”
Owen Mellon
“When we’re spread like that, it excited each other for another guy to get a big kill. We saw a lot of that.”
Full Princeton Post-match Session
NJIT coach Danny Goncalves
“(Nowak) is just a great player. He’s developed even himself.”
“They keep game-planning for him and he just keeps improving throughout. He’s a great kid, great player and we’re excited to see what the next two years have in store for him.”
Full NJIT Post-match Session