It was only fitting for middle attacker Ethan Morgan to have the match-winning kill that secured one of the program’s biggest wins.
Morgan finished with team-high 11 kills and zero errors on a .733 attack percentage as Lincoln Memorial upset No. 10/10 Princeton 18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 on Friday in Princeton, New Jersey.
This is the second time in program history that the Ralsplitters have defeated a top-10 nationally ranked team. The five-time defending IVA championship also now have two wins this season against teams ranked in the top 20 of the national coaches poll.
The match-winning kill for Morgan capped off a 5-1 run to close out the non-conference match. The senior had back-to-back blocks as part of that late-match run that set up a match-point.
Morgan in the third game also had a game-winning ace and four kills, including two kills during another late-game run for the Railsplitters (7-2, 1-0 IVA)
Lincoln Memorial limited Princeton to less than a .125 attack percentage in each of the final three games and out-hit the Tigers for the match .187 to .167.
Morgan led all players with a season-high six blocks. In addition, Johan Negron also had five blocks, while Luigi Pacini and Kohl Kutsch each contributed four blocks.
Negron also had both a team-high 11 kills and two aces against the Tigers (6-4, 0-0 EIVA).
Princeton played this match without setter Henry Wedbush. Wedbush guided the Princeton offense last week to more than a .300 attack percentage in back-to-back victories against nationally ranked teams.
Outside attacker Ben Harrington in the loss finished with both a match-high 19 kills on a .438 attack percentage and four aces.
Harrington was the only Princeton player to have more than three kills and hit more than .200.