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One match into the season and Princeton outside attacker Ben Harrington already has a NCAA record.
Harrington had 13 aces to set the NCAA single-match record during the rally scoring era as No. 15 Princeton swept Queens 25-23, 25-19, 25-20 on Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The All-EIVA senior had eight aces in the final game of the Tigers’ season-opening win. Harrington opened the third game with two aces in the first three plays and then midway through the game twice delivered three consecutive aces as part of a 10-0 run.
Harrington late in the first game also had back-to-back aces to help Princeton overcome a two-point deficit and close out the game on a 6-2 run.
The previous NCAA single-match aces record was 11, which had been accomplished four times in the rally scoring era. Former Lincoln Memorial middle attacker Pedro Carvalho in 2020 was the last player to tie the record.
Harrington entered this season after being third in the nation in 2023 with a 0.68 aces per game average. In addition, the National Server of the Year finalist had at least four aces in eight matches last season highlighted with a career-high seven aces in a non-conference victory versus St. Francis Brooklyn.
Along with the serving performance, Harrington contributed eight kills against Queens.
Nyherowo Omene in the non-conference victory led all players with 11 kills on a .409 attack percentage. James Hartley added nine kills, while middle attacker Gavin Leising had six kills and hit a team-best .714.
Omene also had two aces as Princeton finished with 16 aces – 11 more aces than Queens.
Setter Henry Wedbush guided the Princeton offense to out-hit Queens .235 to .231 in the opener of the two-match series.
Queens outside attacker Jack Brinkman ended with a team-high 11 kills on a .333 attack percentage. Brinkman, though, was the only Royals player to have at least five kills.
Despite the loss, Queens out-blocked Princeton 9 to 3.
Middle attacker Stirling Sims had a match-high five blocks as all six of Queens starters had multiple blocks.