CHARLESTON, W.Va. – University of Charleston men's volleyball made program history Friday evening in the Wehrle Innovation Center, defeating Princeton University in five sets for their first EIVA win in their three seasons in the leage.
Just the Basics
SCORE
University of Charleston 3, Princeton University 2 (22-25, 27-25, 25-21, 19-25, 15-12)
TEAM RECORDS
Charleston (5-1, 1-0 EIVA)
Princeton (1-8, 0-1 EIVA)
How it Happened
SET 1
Charleston and the Tigers battled back and forth for much of the opening set before Princeton opened up a small lead on UC, 14-11, forcing Coach Stevens to take a timeout. The Golden Eagles responded out of the timeout, winning five of the next eight points to trail by just a single point, 17-16. Charleston struggled to find an answer for Junior Oboh in the middle, as the 6-7 senior closed out the set for Princeton with six kills and give the visiting Tigers a 1-0 match lead, 25-22.
SET 2
UC looked to even things up in the second set, scoring the game's first three points before Princeton got on the board on a Parker Dixon kill to make it 3-1. The Golden Eagle's Adriel Roberts opened the set playing possessed, leading Charleston to a 10-3 advantage early in the set. The Tigers got back in the set, going on a 5-0 run to narrow the UC lead to two points, 11-9, that made UC take a timeout. Out of the break, UC's Ryan Santos served up a pair of aces along with a pair of kills to put Charleston back in command, 16-11. Again, the Tigers worked themselves back into the set to trail 22-21 after trailing by four late in the set. Princeton continued to roll behind the serve of Greg Luck, to take a 24-23 lead before Santos served up another ace to knot it a 24-24. Eugene Stuart came up with the game-clinching block in the final stages to even the match at 1-1, 27-25.
SET 3
The Golden Eagles got the momentum rolling again in the third set, jumping out to a 15-11 behind strong serving from Santos and net play from Stuart and Moxey. Princeton evened things up at 17-17 only to see an error and a block by Stuart put the UC ahead by a pair, 19-17, and force a Tiger timeout. Leading 24-21 Charleston got a kill from Santos, one of his nine, to take a 2-1 lead over the Tigers. The Golden Eagles looked poised to claim their first EIVA match in the brief program history.
SET 4
Princeton made an adjustment to start the fourth set, putting in regular starter Mike Fuerst to try and avoid the upset from the Golden Eagles. The Tigers jumped on UC early in the set, taking a 5-point lead at 12-7 that caused a Stevens timeout. Princeton controlled he set from the get go to force a fifth and deciding set with the Golden Eagles.
SET 5
UC controlled the switch going up 8-6 following a huge Santos kill then Stuart added a service ace to take a 9-6 lead. Leading 12-11 and needing a sideout, Charleston came up with the big point. The Golden Eagles and Tigers traded sideouts until the final point, when Mike Fuerst hit his attack attempt wide to give Charleston their first EIVA win in program history.
UC Match Leaders
Kills – Ryan Santos (13), Max Senica (11)
Assists – Brandon Greenway (43)
Digs – Darrin Depellegrini (16)
Blocks – Eugene Stuart (6), Adriel Roberts (5)
Aces – Ryan Santos (5)
NOTABLES
- Charleston earns their first EIVA win in their three seasons in the conference. Historic day for Golden Eagle men's volleyball
NEXT UP
Charleston returns to the court tomorrow evening to take on Princeton University at 7:30 p.m. in the Innovation Center.
