Penn State exacts its revenge, sweeps Princeton to win EIVA championship

Photo courtesy of Penn State athletics

There was no doubt about it – the Nittany Lions got their revenge.

Penn State one year after suffering a season-ending upset Princeton in the EIVA Tournament completed its undefeated conference season as it swept Princeton 25-14, 25-18, 25-22 in the EIVA Tournament finals on Saturday in University Park, Pennsylvania.

The Nittany Lions did not commit an attack error until the second game and for the match out-hit the Tigers .324 to .054. In addition, Penn State had a match-best .667 attack percentage in its 11-point opening-game win en route to securing its 33rd EIVA championship in program history.

All-EIVA opposite Cal Fisher led all players with 12 kills, including having a game-high five kills in the first game. Wildman also had eight kills with five of those kills coming in the final game to help complete the sweep.

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Along with the offensive performance, Fisher had a team-high two aces and three blocks.

Princeton in the loss failed to hit more than .100 in any of three matches and did not have a player with double-digit kills.

Brady Wedbush had a team-high seven kills, while Ben Harrington was held to five kills and a negative-.091 attack percentage. Harrington entered the postseason is in the conference’s top five with both a 3.58 kills per game average and a .302 attack percentage

Penn State won the finals without middle attacker Toby Ezeonu. Ezeonu, who is second in the nation with a .497 attack percentage, suffered a a lower-body injury in Penn State’s win against George Mason in the EIVA Tournament semifinals.

The Nittany Lions with this victory will in the EIVA’s automatic bid to the seven-team NCAA Tournament.

Penn State is projected to be one of the top-three seeds for the NCAA Tournament, according to the latest Off the Block bracketology.