Charleston, W. Va – Charleston hosted the Princeton University Tigers for a weekend full of EIVA men's volleyball action. Charleston came into this matchup fresh off a win over Central State in Wilberforce, OH just three days prior, whereas the Tigers had dropped their previous game to George Mason at home. 
 
The Basics
Location: Wherle Innovation Center
Score: UC 0, PU 3
Records: UC (22-3, 5-2 EIVA), PU (12-11, 5-3 EIVA) 
 
How it Happened
In a packed house, the Tigers were getting the Charleston faithful's best shot as the fans poured into the arena for such a crucial game in the later stages of the year with the EIVA Tournament over the horizon. The first set was airtight as the largest lead would only be three points by the Tigers. Despite Charleston's .450 hitting percentage, it was not enough as the Tigers put on an offensive clinic finishing the set with 18 kills on 28 total attacks with just three attack errors. Nyherowo Omene would end the set with his kill assisted by Henry Wedbush to give Princeton a one-set advantage over the Golden Eagles. 
 
The Tigers would find even more momentum in the second set as they would work their way to a 9-5 lead early on. Charleston was able to match all of Princeton's points for the duration of the set, but the Tigers had created too much of a margin in the early going for Charleston to catch up, taking the second set 25-19 after an attack error from Luuk Hoge Bavel. Princeton was led by Ben Harrington and Brady Wedbush who each had four kills in the set. The Golden Eagles relied heavily on Lachlan Bray to find their offensive attack; he would also finish the set with four kills but was not accompanied by another attacker to combine for eight as the Tigers had done. 
 
Princeton's hitting percentage would take a dive in the third set, but they would still out-hit the Golden Eagles with their 12 kills compared to Charleston's 7. A big stat column that proved to be effective for the Tigers: they would have five service aces on the day while Charleston would not find the court on the first hit all evening long, with two of them coming from Princeton's James Hartley with a powerful right-handed service. Just when the Golden Eagles got to within one point, Felipe Mendes would be denied a service ace on a questionable call that ignited the crowd, but the Tigers would go on to create too much of a margin once again for Charleston to overcome as they would take the third and final set by a final score of 25-20. 
 
 
 The Basics
Location: Wherle Innovation Center
Score: UC 1, PU 3
Records: UC (22-4, 5-3 EIVA), PU (12-11, 6-3 EIVA) 
 
The second game would entail low hitting percentages from both teams, but a highly competitive matchup on a beautiful Saturday. Neither team would go on a long-stretch run in the first set as it was neck-and-neck between the two sides. There would be nine total lead changes in just the first set alone, showing how bad these teams wanted that sixth conference win on the year. It would be the Tigers, however, finishing the set at 25 led by back-to-back service aces from Ben Harrington in the later stages of the set to take the 1-0 advantage. 
 
It would be the Golden Eagles taking the first two points of the second set on back-to-back attack errors from the Tigers. Charleston would capitalize on six free points off of service errors from Princeton, something they struggled with heavily throughout the matchup. The team would be led by Garret Schnitker with his eight kills in the set accompanied by Lachlan Bray with his four added on. Charleston would create a large enough margin on the scoreboard with a three-point lead to take their first set of the weekend as Garret Schnitker would send the ball home across his body for the 25-22 set win to level play at 1-1. 
 
The third set looked very promising for Charleston as they would block just about everything that came their way defensively. The Golden Eagles would take seven consecutive points midway through the set to go from being behind 13-9 to taking a 16-13 lead after what seemed like an endless amount of blocks came from Ismael Sneed and Veit Bils. Princeton would find three consecutive points to level play at 16-16 and the set would go back and forth between the two high-powered teams. As they went into extra rallies, the Tigers would find the two consecutive points they needed to take the third set 27-25 and take a 2-1 advantage in set play. 
 
In almost the same fashion, Charleston would jump out to a large lead once again with a 8-1 run making the score 16-10 midway through the fourth. With an electrified senior day crowd, the Tigers knew they wouldn't want to go to a fifth set on the road. Charleston, with three set points, would be denied by Princeton in the end as they would score five consecutive points to take the 26-24 final set win for the 3-1 win over Charleston, handing the Golden Eagles their lone two losses at home on the year. 
 
Up Next
The Golden Eagles will have their last regular season weekend series against the Nittany Lions of Penn State in University Park, PA on April 14^th at 7:00 PM.