HACKENSACK, N.J.- FDU Men's Volleyball improves to 5-4 after downing the Princeton Tigers (2-7) in a 3-0 home sweep. With the victory, the Knights downed the Tigers for the first time in program history, and recorded their second home sweep this season.
The middle of the front was involved early for the Knights, after
Rayjan Suarez Palacios and
Baboloki Silwane logged early kills to keep the game even at 3-3.
With Princeton ahead 6-5, FDU powered back, with a four point run spearheaded by
Jamal Ellis, who recorded a kill and a blocking assist during the rally. FDU put themselves back in front 9-6. The Knights continued to keep distance between themselves and the tigers, trading off points until two errors put the Tigers down 14-10.
The gap closed late in the first set, with Princeton down 22-20. A Kill by
Andrew Michael was followed by an attacking error to put FDU in a set point situation. Ellis delivered with an assist by Silwane as FDU took set one, 25-23.
Michael recorded an early ace, to even the game at 2-2. Princeton was able to gain separation on the Knights, pushing out to a 7-4 margin. Ellis and Biro capped off a 3 point run to tie the contest again at seven each way.
The contest continued going back and forth, with the score tied once again at 12-12. FDU found their footing, with Ellis logging another kill which was followed by four errors by the tigers. After jumping out 17-12, FDU sacrificed five more points to even the contest 17-17.
Ellis recorded the final kill of the set for FDU, putting his squad ahead 21-19. Four of the final five scores were off Princeton errors as the Knights took the second set, 25-20.
The Tigers started the set strong, leading 4-2. The Knights opened up the scoring with Suarez Palacios logging a kill down the middle. The run also featured a service ace from
Dylan McFadden and was capped by a
Laydon Biro kill. The Knights recaptured the lead 6-4.
After the Tigers fought their way back on top,
Panagiotis Kourmouzos fired a kill to tie the score 8-8. Silwane followed this effort with a service ace to put the Knights ahead, 9-8. The Knights never trailed the rest of the way.
After continuing to trade points, the Tigers tied the game at 19-19. Errors continued to plague the visitors, as two more miscues gave the Knights a 21-19 lead late. With a 24-23 lead
Laydon Biro struck again to seal the game 25-23.
The Knights are back in action tomorrow, hosting George Mason at 2 p.m. Coverage of the game will be on NEC front row.
