Princeton University’s Men’s Volleyball Team has every reason to celebrate because the team is back in the national ranking after 17 years. That’s right! The last time they earned a spot in the AVCA Poll was in 1998.
For the first time since the final poll of the 1998 season, when Princeton won its only EIVA championship, the Tiger men’s volleyball is nationally ranked. Princeton, which also swept the latest EIVA weekly honors, moved to 13th in the AVCA men’s poll this week after defeating the former No. 13 team, Harvard, and Sacred Heart last weekend.
Princeton, which had been among teams receiving votes multiple times this season, finally broke into the poll after moving to 3-0 in EIVA play with its strong play over the weekend. The Tigers are the only EIVA team in the Top 15, though both Penn State and Harvard are listed among the teams receiving votes.
“We are very honored that the AVCA committee ranked us 13th in the country,” head coach Sam Shweisky said. “But we all know that while mid-season rankings may be slightly more important the pre-season rankings, it’s the end of the season where we have our sights set on. We hope to remain humble and hungry as the season progresses.”
This is only the 13th time that Princeton has been ranked among the Top 15 in the AVCA poll (records date back to 1986), and the first since being ranked 12th in the final poll of the 1998 season. The No. 13 ranking isn’t far removed from Princeton’s best-ever national rank; following the 1998 EIVA championship run over both Penn State and Rutgers-Newark, the Tigers reached No. 11 in back-to-back polls.
Of course, Princeton also knows how precarious the rankings can be; the Tigers have faced the No. 13 team twice this season as an unranked opponent, and they won both times (Cal State-Northridge and Harvard).
Two major contributors to Princeton’s strong weekend were honored by the EIVA Monday. Senior Cody Kessel, an All-America honoree last season, earned his second EIVA Offensive Player of the Week honor after averaging 5.4 kills and 7.0 points in wins over both Harvard and Sacred Heart. He scored 30 points in the 3-1 win over Harvard, and he hit .481 and recorded the match-winning ace in the victory over Sacred Heart.
Kessel currently ranks second in the NCAA in both kills (4.85) and points (5.85) per set.
While Kessel has had his fair share of honors throughout his impressive career, sophomore Junior Oboh picked up his first one Monday when he was named EIVA Defensive Player of the Week. He averaged 1.9 blocks per set in the weekend sweep, and he hit .412 with 10 kills in the victory over Harvard.
Oboh moved to the top of the EIVA ranks and 10th in the NCAA with 1.26 blocks per set this season. He also talked with GoPrincetonTigers.TV following his strong effort against Harvard.
“We are all very proud of Cody and JR for being named EIVA Offensive and Defensive players of the week, but they will be the first ones to deflect the praise and put it back onto the team as a whole,” Shweisky said. “We had so many clutch performances throughout the lineup, and it was really exciting to see so many guys contribute in such meaningful ways. Mike Bagnell subbed in down 23-24 against Harvard and helped to tie the set and then Jonah May subbed in to serve the match-winning ace.”
The Tigers are indeed having THE BEST WEEK EVER!
Keep up the great work boys!
Click HERE to view the latest AVCA Poll. TAKE NOTE: Last season’s finalist, Stanford, is NOT even in the Top 15. Yikes!
(image by: Princeton Volleyball Facebook)