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History

2019-2020

February 23, 2020

We travel to Seton Hall University in the early morning. After an 0-3 loss in a rematch vs. Stevens A, we complete the reverse sweep 3-2 vs. Seton Hall! YouTube video of fifth set

February 16, 2020

We host Stevens Tech for a pair of Sunday morning best-of-five games, the first under our new leadership. Unfortunately our president was sick, but Eduard stepped up to play a strong middle. After starting off strong, we lose to Stevens A in four sets (21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 26-24). Highlight of the match: Keith packing the Stevens libero on a nice one ball, and some monster roofs by Joao and Eduard. We also tried a 6-2 with Jeremy-Joao and Jon-Paully as paired subs, which worked well and provided a permanent tall triple block.

Then, we go on to lose to Stevens B in five sets (25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-12). They were a scrappy team with great defense, and deserved the win. Still, though, some high level volleyball was played today.

February 11, 2020

We hold elections for the new leadership for the upcoming year!

We thank Ben and Dan for their wonderful service as President/Captain for the past year, and hope the new leadership can push Club Volleyball into the new decade strong!

2020 Club Officers

Team picture before practice.

November 23, 2019

On a chilly Saturday before Thanksgiving, we drive 1.5 hours to East Stroudsbug University for a small tournament. In the round-robin best-of-three group stage, we first lose to East Stroudsburg A in three sets (25-22, 14-25, 11-15). Then, despite a monster Keith bounce made possible by a beautiful Jon one-handed-set, we lose to Penn State Harrisbug in three sets (25-14, 22-25, 9-15). We quickly bounce back vs. Franklin & Marshall (25-9, 25-17), as well as East Stroudsburg B (25-10, 25-16), using these games to try new plays and give some of the new players game-time. These results qualified us for the semifinals, where we drop a close match to 2 Bump Chumps (20-25, 22-25).

Overall, a great day of volleyball! Despite it being the first time actually playing with Aidan, Andrew, and Reid, the level of play remained high, helped by the veteran presence of Jeremy, Joao, and Dan. Some great rallies took place today, and as always, our success depended on solid passing and minimizing unforced errors. A good start to our year!

Tournament ball: John

Backup tournament ball: Jeremy

Team pic with a guest from Franklin and Marshall.

September 19, 2019

We start off the new year with the regular open gym/tryouts, with more than 40 interested players. We welcome five new players to the team: Zachary Adnane, Andrew Alexander, Sassan Hajirezaie, Ricky Lin, Aidan Zentner, and Reid Zlotsky. Our team’s average height increases with these new additions, especially Sassan. Together with our returning players, the newbies should make this year a fun one.

2018-2019

May 8, 2019

We go to the classic club VB favorite, Nomad Pizza, to celebrate Eric and Steven before they graduate! Many thanks to them for a great four years.

March 3, 2019

We beat Seton Hall 3-0 and lose to Stockton 0-3 (25-16, 25-21, 25-16).

February 23-24, 2019

On Saturday, we make the drive up to Stevens Tech, which has a surprisingly nice view of the NYC skyline. Unfortunately, we lose to Stevens B in four sets and Stevens A in three.

Partial team picture at Stevens Tech.

On Sunday, we go to TCNJ. Despite Joao’s monster outside presence and Keith’s bounces, we lose in three sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-17).

February 17, 2019

In a quick roster transaction, we add Keith Register (legacy preference) and Rafael Ruch to our roster. Keith provides a much-needed middle blocker.

The season kicks off with two Sunday matches at Dillon Gym, where we played Seton Hall and East Stroudsburg University. We handle Seton Hall in four sets: 25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 25-23. East Strousburg is slightly more challenging, but we take the match in five sets: 27-25, 10-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-13. A great start to our season! We face Stevens Tech and TCNJ next week.

Game ball: Keith

Backup game ball: Hari

Team picture after the victories. Not pictured: John, Jeremy, Frank

December 10, 2018

We hold elections for the new leadership for the upcoming year!

We thank Jayson and Patrick for their services as President/Captain for the past year, and hope the new leadership can make Club Volleyball even better!

November 11, 2018

We start the 2018-2019 campaign with a great day of volleyball against high-level competition at the 19th Annual Glenn Nelson Classic. After a solid tie 1-1 vs. Hunter (21-25, 25-23), we drop the rest of the matches against New Paltz, Arcadia, and Sacred Heart.

September 24, 2018

After advertising during the Activity Fair, we had a great turnout at open gym and tryouts, with more than 30 interested players showing up. We welcome four new players to the team: Frank Ge, Hari Ramakrishnan, John Xu, and Jonathan Zhu. We also bid goodbye to graduating seniors Jeff and Fida, as well as our grad students Jin and Matt. To celebrate the start of a new season, the team went to Hunan’s for a team dinner before the first practice of the year. 2018-2019 is shaping up to be a great year for the club!

2017-2018

February 11, 2018

We had our first home matches of the year, with a straight-set win over Rider (25-19, 25-11, 25-16) and a 4-set win over Rowan B (20-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-23)!

December 20, 2017

We announce our new leadership for the upcoming year!

Thanks to officers Steven Takeshita, Eric Chen, and Jeremy Du who are stepping down from club leadership for a great 2016, and hope the new board can make 2017 an even better year for Club Volleyball.

From left to right: Eric Chen (retiring president), Jayson Saleet, Ben Ryu, Paully Kopp, Allen Kong, Dan Kim, and Patrick Nian.

September 22, 2017

We welcome new members to the team: Allen Kong, Ben Ryu, Dan Kim, Paully Kopp, Matt Halbasch, and Neven Caplar. To celebrate the new team and another year of volleyball, we visited Triumph for a beginning of the year team dinner!

2016-2017

April 1, 2017

We played the final game of the season today at home vs TCNJ. They had a great setter and libero, and our A team was suffering from lack of practice together, plus the fact that Patrick had just come back to Princeton a few days ago. Nevertheless, we put up a good fight, but lost in 3 sets (19-25, 22-25, 18-25).

For dinner that night, we walked to Thai Village, where we celebrated the seniors’ final game: big thanks to Jon for reviving Princeton Men’s Club Volleyball, and Vlad for being Vlad.

February 25, 2017

Strong performance against Seton Hall in a 4 set win (25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18). Also ended the night with a celebration at Victor’s room.

February 18-19, 2017

We go 4-1 in a full slate of volleyball matches this weekend. On Saturday, we travel to Penn to beat Penn B 3-0, beat Penn C 3-1, lose to Temple 0-3. On Sunday, we travel to TCNJ to beat Rowan B 3-2 and get the win over Rider by forfeit.

On Saturday, the team was buoyed early by Vlad’s accurate hitting in the Penn games. This supplemented with new Jin’s (Fida’s) tip shots proved to be a winning combination against Penn B and C. However, we were outbodied by Temple. Though we shook off the loss with a trip to a fantastic noodle house. Afterwards, the surprisingly warm February weather was too good to pass up, and we got a quick beach session in as well.

On Sunday, it was a close fought match against Rowan B. We dropped the first set, won sets two and three, and then dropped the forth. In the fifth set, we came away with a definitive victory.

Special recognition to Jon, Vlad, and Joao for playing in every point in all 5 games this weekend—true titans of volleyball.

February 12, 2017

Tough sledding today, as the team drops to Stevens Tech A and Stevens Tech B 0-3 for both matches.

December 15, 2016 - 2017 Officer Elections

Peaceful transition of power occurred as elections for 2017 officers were held. Our new officers are:

We thank our retiring officers Jeff Register and Fida Newaj for a great 2016, and hope the new board can make 2017 an even better year for Club Volleyball.

November 20, 2016 — 8th Annual Glenn Nelson Classic

vs. Princeton Varsity

L 14-25, L 20-25

vs. Stevens Tech

L 23-25, W 25-18

vs. Army

W 25-23, W 25-8

vs. Vassar Varsity

L 14-25, L 15-25

We start the 2016-2017 campaign with a great day of volleyball against high-level competition at the 8th Annual Glenn Nelson Classic. We finish the day 3-5, with a sweep of Army 25-23 and 25-8.

September 23, 2016

We welcome Jeremy Du, Joao Ferreira, Patrick Nian, Connor Olson, Nathan Poland, Gabe Roth, Jayson Saleet, and Victor Xu as new members to the Men’s Club Volleyball team! The team went out to Nomad Pizza together to celebrate the start of a new season.

September 14, 2016

What a way to start the new season with a great turnout of over 20 interested players at the Campus Rec expo. Despite losing key members Manuel and Renauld last year, the team is shaping up to be competitive at all positions— middle blocker included. Good things to come in the 2016-2017 Men’s Club Volleyball campaign!

2015-2016

After a decade of silence, the Club Volleyball history page returns (with a new site to boot, too)! The highlight of the year was a 2nd place finish at the University of Pennsylvania’s 6-team tournament. After defeating both Penn’s club A and B teams, we played in the finals against Stevens Tech, losing in straight sets.

April 5, 2015-2016

We say goodbye to the two longest tenured members of our team, Manuel and Renaud, with a dinner at Triumph. Thanks Manuel and Renaud for many years of coaching and playing with the team!

2004-2015

Playing volleyball in Princeton.

2003-2004

February 11, 2004

Away match at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) 25-22, 25-18, 25-21. Touted as the best team in our division and number one in pre-season polls, TCNJ came in confident they would dispose of us easily (as was apparent on their Captain’s away message encouraging fans to come out and watch them win [although as Jon pointed out, it’s better than encouraging people to come watch their team get clobbered]). However, it was not to be tonight as a depleted Princeton squad started its season with an opening victory for the first time in several years. The first game was sloppy due to the short warm up time, but overcoming an early deficit, the Tigers rallied to take it by three points. It was apparent to everyone except their blockers that Zeid was going to be pounding the ball tonight. Game two went on without a hitch, with Zeid continuing to be the go-to guy, hitting balls from everywhere on the court. Game three saw Princeton ease up a bit leading to a 15-20 deficit at which point it seemed that TCNJ just wanted to go home as they conceded eight straight points. Game ball: Zeid (honorable mention to Steve for his first libero performance)

February 15, 2004

Tri-match vs. Widener and Swarthmore at Widener

Widener 25-13, 25-20, 25-21

Swarthmore 25-7, 25-11, 25-10

There’s really not much to say except that we spent more time driving to Widener than playing BOTH of our matches. Steve opened his setting debut with some terrific sets in both game 3’s, and Zeid continued to look strong at Opposite. Princeton looks forward to some tougher volleyball despite starting its season 3-0 (9-0 in games). Game ball: Paul/Steve

February 21, 2004

Tri-match vs. York and PS Altoona at York

York 23-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-18

Altoona 25-17, 25-15, 25-20

The first test of the season came this Saturday in York, Pennsylvania. York started the day by handing Altoona a heavy defeat and looked forward to beating Princeton in the second match in front of their relatively large fan base. They started the match by winning 25-23, in a first game that proved to be Princeton’s worst game. Rallied by phenomenal hitting by Jon, superb defense by Steve, and brick wall like blocking by Dries, Princeton proceeded to win the next three games without too much suspense. PS Altoona was just overmatched and overpowered as strong serving by Zeid, continued good play by Jon, and another solid setting performance by Steve led Princeton to a sweep. Game ball: Jon

February 22, 2004

Away match at Kutztown 25-20, 25-21, 25-15

On the second long road trip of the weekend, Princeton headed to Kutztown. Despite the optically-challenged gym, Princeton again just overpowered its opponent. The match didn’t see the level of volleyball Princeton had produced the day before, but with the season debuts of Sameer and Dave, we were able to continue our strong season opening. The match again saw strong serving by Zeid, a good swinging performance by Sameer and Dave, and a solid outing by the rest. Game ball: Sameer/Zeid

2000-2001

The Fourth Annual Princeton Men’s Thanksgiving Volleyball Classic

CHAMPION: PENN

RUNNER-UP: PITT

Saturday Pool Play

• Pool 1 (Scranton, Drexel, Penn, Princeton)
• Pool 2 (TCNJ, UMBC, Villanova, Seton Hall)
• Pool 3 (Ship I, Cornell, PSU-York, Kings)
• Pool 4 (Kutztown, UConn, Ship II, Pitt)

Sunday Playoff Results

POOL ONE

Drexel wins playoff with Scranton 15-11

Pool 2

Pool Table

Penn State - York wins playoff with Cornell 15-13

Pool Four

Pitt takes top seed over Kutztown based on point differential

Playoffs

Play-In Games

Princeton d. Penn State - York 25-21, 25-22

Kutztown d. Drexel 25-19, 25-19

UConn d. UMBC 25-15, 25-13

Ship I d. TCNJ 25-18, 25-15

Quarterfinals

Pitt d. Princeton 25-22, 25-19

UConn d. Kings 16-25, 27-25, 15-11

Penn d. Ship I 20-25, 25-22, 15-7

Kutztown d. Villanova 25-23, 25-23

Semifinals

Pitt d. UConn 27-25, 25-20, 25-21

Penn d. Kutztown 25-21, 25-22, 25-16

Finals

Penn d. Pitt 25-19, 28-26, 23-25, 25-14 test

1999-2000

Ah, the return of the season chronicle. Just as a four month old warm keg of Beast in the back yard of Cap during freshman week welcomes the school year, so the beginning of the chronicle ushers in another season of Princeton Club Volleyball. And so, without further ado, let’s get it on!

Activities Fair and Tryouts

The trend continues as we sign up 30+ guys and keep just a handful. We wait for some 6’6” foreign grad student to come out of the woodwork, but the days of Duesing and Jakob are gone. The core that has carried us for the past two years will have to do so again. Frosh Scott Worswick looks to rekindle the Brentwood magic of Stevens and Brooks and along with Tom Quirk and Alex McDaniel should provide the depth that was sorely lacking at tournaments last year. Bloom thinks about running track but quickly realizes that a varsity sport seriously impairs his ability to watch ‘The Simpsons’ on a regular basis and returns to the flock.

4th Annual Men’s Fall Tournament - Nov. 14-15

Second in pool, lost in quarterfinals

At St. Joeseph’s - Feb. 13

25-21, 25-19, 25-21

After a month layoff for exams, we kick the spring season off in a successful fashion with a straight sets victory. Bloom dominates the net in the first game, blocking four straight balls for points early on to lead us to an easy 1-0 lead. We then proceed to sleep walk through game 2, barely pulling out a game in which we showed little emotion and even less skill. We get back on the right track in the 3rd, though, as we cruise to an easy victory after falling behind early on. Overall, we showed a lot of rust, with our offense not yet firing on all cylinders and our defense spotty at times. A win is a win, however, and the ubiquitous post-match stop at Taco Bell brings a smile to all.

At Seton Hall - Feb. 19

25-?, 25-?, 25-?

The expected tri-match with Seton Hall and Bucknell is reduced to a match and scrimmage with the Pirates as the Bison are snowed in for the day. Fired up from our breakfast of Burger King hash browns and french toast, we take the Hall out in three games. Everyone puts in a solid but unspectacular performance, yet at times we lapse into cruise control as we did last weekend. In the scrimmage that follows, Bloom proceeds to fall asleep on the bench. Way to go, Dan.

HOME vs. Widener - Feb. 2

25-22, 25-19, 25-21

We shake off our hangovers from last night’s festivities and manage to sweep Widener in the first home match of the year. It’s another unremarkable effort, however, and it took the appearance of a hobbled Eric Mojo Tsay halfway through game two to spark us to victory over Kevin Nash and the rest of a scrappy Widener six. If we could ever play like we’re capable of for an entire match we might actually be dangerous.

HOME vs. TCNJ - Feb. 24

25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-23

Against probably our toughest competition in the league we put together a solid performance. The match was nothing spectacular, but the win brought smiles to all of our faces despite dropping a game for the first time this year. Alex McD steps up big in the absence of Bloom who is out with an exam (only at Princeton!). Rami survives being picked on by the TCNJ servers. We all survive the hitting of big 42 on the Lions. Frank enters the game, hammers a ball down, and is promptly taken out of the game. Jeff becomes the first Tiger this year to attempt to dig a ball with his face. It doesn’t work. Glenn Nelson says we can play in the ivy tournament if someone drops out. Watch out, varsity Tigers, the club sport of the millennium is on a roll.

HOME vs. Rowan - Feb. 27

25-15, 21-25, 25-13, 25-21

The Rowan match sees us play some of our best and worst volleyball of the year as we sandwich a lost game in the middle of a rout. With Whitelaw listed as day-to-day (but then again, aren’t we all?) with an unfortunately placed cyst, Alex gets his second start of the year and along with Bloom dominates the nonexistent Rowan middles. Lim successfully digs a ball with his chest, although he is left with a permanent Tachikara tattoo. Ketchum cleverly executes a foot dig and we even win the point after a seemingly rule-defying set by Alex and hit by Matt. To conclude, I’d like to give a shout out to #8, who we couldn’t stop all day. I’d hate to have seen him before the torn ACL.

HOME vs. Haverford - March 23

25-16, 25-16, 25-18

A relatively easy win, but nothing we’ll be bragging about in the near future. Tonight we found out what it looks like when you play a match after having one practice in the past three weeks. We show a complete lack of timing offensively, pass poorly, and miss a ton of serves. We even manage to screw up our service rotation and on two occasions allow the 4’11” Mojo to play front row after messing up substitutions. And despite the appearance of the legendary Bertrand Dorwart - a ‘ford alum (valedictorian, you know), P-town grad student, and veteran of both club teams - we show absolutely no emotion. Alex Lim provides the only bright spot of the day by jump serving them off the court to end the match, but that barely makes up for the fact that he shanked a sure kill on an overpass into the Haverford bench.

At Philly College of Bible - March 3

25-21, 25-13, 19-25, 23-25, 15-13

With Whitelaw still on the injured list and relegated to coaching duties, the team travels to Langhorne, PA without yet another starter, when Ketchum decides that a thesis is more important than club volleyball. Despite having to wait for Alex to get dressed, the team gets on the road and arrives at PCB. Stunned by the nice gym, we decide that Princeton has the worst facilities in the MACVC. The game starts off close, as we take the first game; PCB is a little down, and we easily capture the second game. Then, PCB discovers how to hit and we completely lose the ability to block and play defense. It comes down to the fifth game for the first time all year and despite a 13-7 lead, we find ourselves tied 13-13 at our timeout. Coming out of the timeout, it’s 14-13 PCB and last time I checked, no one can score points in a timeout. A controversy ensues, the ref corrects the scores, and Rami quickly pounds it down to get the point and the momentum. After winning, we quickly run out of the gym and, feeling bad about betraying the Chihuahua, we hit Mickey D’s and teach Rami how to play Monopoly. If anyone has the fourth railroad (Short Line) please drop us a line. Anyway, Lim had his first ever block and Bloom was dominating. The star of the game goes to Frank, who steps and fills in Ketchum’s shoes better than Ketchum could have done. We arrive back and Muju makes tap duty, Whitelaw makes broomball, and all is good.

Philly Textile

Textile does not answer our repeated emails and calls. They are no doubt frightened by the irresistible force that is Princeton Club Volleyball (hey, we even frighten ourselves sometimes). We guess that the ‘unpleasantness’ of a few years ago has yet to wear off. Oh well, at least they still have the best uniforms this side of the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing.

At Swarthmore - April 2

26-24, 25-17, 25-21

While we start off late, it was all worth it to see McDaniel running the length of campus in his bare feet to get his uniform; naturally, he used the old falling asleep in the girl friend’s room as an excuse. It’s still the Walk of Shame. The return of Ketchum is marred by Whitelaw errantly leading the team all over to try to find the correct entrance onto the Swarthmore campus. We legitimately stole the first game from Swarthmore, storming back from being down 24-22 to take the game, 26-24. The second game is much more comfortable and Bloom has the set of his life while lying on the ground; whoever said middles can’t set? We fight off the scrappy Swat team and have trouble digging #11 all day, but we triumph in the end. Muju’s absence is not really missed, as Bloom never stops smiling while in the back row. Scott rediscovers his hitting stroke and Lim came close to being thrown out of the game for his hidden body piercings. The ride back marked a Run for the Border and the scenic trip down the 206 to avoid being pulled over by a cop. In a purely self-indulgent moment, I must congratulate the broomball team The Iron Curtain for its stunning 4-0 victory in the finals of the IM Broomball Tournament. Whitelaw will use the victory as momentum for his comeback.

HOME vs. Widener - April 11

25-23, 25-17, 19-25, 25-20

In a match that’s used as a warmup to the MACVC Championship, we continue the trend of a definitive lack of excitement. We played well in spurts and were able to comfortably cruise in 2 out of the 4 games. Bloom wanted the match held in honor of the departed cyst, but it didn’t really catch on. However, tonight marked the debut of the secret “One, Two, Three, FOUR” chant that will secure us victory at Messiah on Saturday. We also learned that we will be competing at the Ivy League Tourney on April 16, marking two consecutive mornings before the sun rises. Considering our team name already was taken by varsity, we’ll have to come up with an alternative. We’re thinking “Ton.”

Championship at Messiah - April 15

vs. Susquehanna 17-25, 20-25

vs. Philadelphia University 25-18, 25-20

vs. Dickinson 15-25, 25-22

vs. West Chester 25-21, 13-25

We start off the epic journey to Messiah on a wrong foot, as Whitelaw takes the team on a 40 detour down the Pennsylvania Turnpike to an exit in the middle of nowhere. We finally find our hotel, with what looks like a stellar mini-golf course out front. Our search for another House of Pie turns up empty, so we make do with stale supermarket food and bed down for the night. We awaken in the morning to a slight feeling of panic that Alex will never make it, but he pulls in just as we start wondering. We head off for Messiah. We play decently throughout the day, dropping two at the beginning to Susquehanna, before we beat Philadelpiha U in 2 and split with Dickinson. We then split with division number 1 seed West Chester and end up third in our pool, which means that we have to work the first round of the playoffs. However, it’s all worth it as we collect our division champion trophy and beer mugs. The drive home is uneventful and we all hit the street, before having to get up for the Ivy Championships early on Sunday morning. We don’t win a game, since we are all too exhausted. However, we do take points off Harvard and Bloom even manages a block or two. With that, our season comes to an end. We’d like to thank Matt Ketchum, Alex Lim, and Alex McDaniel, our intrepid seniors (especially four-year players and legends Ketchum and Lim). Also, a big shout out to our grad students who will be leaving, Rami Shakarchia and Frank Swenton. It’s been fun and we’ll see you next year.

1998-1999

Yale Scrimmage - Oct. 18

15-9, 5-15, 11-15, 15-8, 2-15

Facing a substantially taller Eli squad, our defense comes up big in the first test of the year, picking up balls we had no right to be getting. As opposed to last year, Rami does not throw the match to his alma mater, throwing in some huge X’s. Alex is huge with the solo block. Wang is unstoppable. Eric is all about the back row. Frank shows off his guns.

3rd Annual Men’s Fall Tournament - Nov. 15

Tie for Third - First in Pool, Lost in Semis

First of all, a special thanks to Yale, Columbia, Georgetown, Montclair State, The College of New Jersey, Seton Hall, and tournament director Steve Shih for helping make this a great event. 8:30 in the morning comes way too early for most of us. Our play is sluggish and sloppy against Montclair, but we manage to take all three games. Something unusual happens during the Seton Hall match - we decide to play well. Ketchum turns in an inspired blocking performance as we take the first two games to lock up the pool before tanking the third. In the semis against TCNJ, Alex and Whitelaw come up huge in a massive first game comeback but our day comes to a premature end when we drop the third game 16-14 in rally scoring. Rami and Sam, worked like mules all day long, may not be able to walk for the rest of the week. Sam also attempts to dig a spike with his face, albeit unsuccessfully. While we sit on the sidelines, a Ragones led Yale squad takes the title and the champagne in two games over TCNJ.

Kutztown Tournament - Dec. 5

2-4 in Pool Play - 3-15, 11-15 vs. Shippensburg, 1-15, 6-15 vs. Millersville, 15-11, 15-9 vs. USVA

We show up unprepared and slightly undermanned and get our asses kicked in the first two matches against Ship and ‘Ville. Facing the consequences of finishing last in our pool (having to ref the semis) we suck it up and pull out two wins against a USVA team. It provides us with a moral victory, but moral victories are for losers so we don’t plan to make a habit of playing like crap. Not much on the highlight reel from this one: Frank is the second player this year to try to dig a ball with his face and Eric continues his attempt to master the skill we like to call “serving.” We learned a lot from this one, though, so come spring you can expect much more from us.

Tri-match with Kutztown and Lock Haven at Kutztown - Feb. 7

13-15, 15-7, 15-12, 7-15, 15-9 vs. Lock Haven

2-15, 10-15 vs. Kutztown

In an exhausting two and a half hour match we prevail over Lock Haven. In a match that featured quality volleyball on both sides of the net, it was our consistent hitting and ability to control their strong middle attack that brought us victory. There were no dominating individual efforts from our team, just strong all around play. Rami and Ketchum pass nails, Randy is large in his first appearance of the year, Alex has hands of gold, and our middle trio of Dan, Dave and Dave show off their roofing skills. Exhausted and seemingly content with this victory in a key division showdown we barely show up for the Kutztown match that followed, putting in a less than inspired performance against a team we should have beaten. Worse still, on the ride home we discover that Taco Bell is out of the much coveted talking Chihuahuas. We’ll be back, though.

HOME versus Drew - Feb. 14

15-1, 15-1, 15-1

Enough said.

Quad with Montclair St., Lehigh, and Seton Hall at Seton Hall - Feb. 27

15-11, 15-8 vs. Montclair State

13-15, 10-15, 15-9, 15-11, 13-15 vs. Lehigh

15-11, 15-11, 10-15, 15-13 vs. Seton Hall

An extremely long day of volleyball starts outside of hallowed Dillon Gym at 6:30am with the christening of our new mascot - the talking chihuahua. We get to Seton Hall for our 9am match and sleepwalk through Montclair, dispatching them in two uninspired games. We then sit around, “get our sleep on” (as Bloom put it), and wait until the tardy Lehigh team shows. We finally start our second match of the day around 11:15 and proceed to drop two tough games to the nation’s 12th ranked team. We get our shit together in games three and four, though, and send the match to the pivotal rally scoring fifth game. The final game is close until we manage to string a few points together and take a 13-10 lead - and then proceed to choke. A side out and four points later it’s over. Despite the disappointment of the Lehigh match and our tired legs we manage to suck it up and claw through Seton Hall in four games to salvage some pride in the last match of the day. Yet again, we put in a true team effort with no one dominating and everyone playing solidly. We learn several important things on this day. First, we discover that the sun actually comes up at about 6:15 in the morning. Second, we learn never to listen to Alex’s directions or to park near him. Third, Randy finds that trying to check into a game wearing warmup pants is a yellow card. Fourth, we learn that leading 13-10 in the fifth is not the time to stop playing volleyball. Fifth, we find that missing half of your serves in a game does not always stop you from winning. Sixth, Randy becomes the fourth person this year to discover that being hit in the head by a ball is not fun. And finally, we confirm what we had known all the time - that taco bell and a night at the street takes away all the pain (until the next morning).

HOME versus BBC - Mar. 4

15-2, 15-5, 15-6

We cruise to victory in 3 for the second straight time at home, despite the conspicuous absence of the talking Chihuahua. Not much to say about this one except that Bloom did manage to spike an overpass into one of their player’s noggins. An injured Ketchum assumes photography duty, and hopefully some of the pictures* will come out this time, unlike at the Kutztown tourney.

We actually got some good shots, although I’ve been too lazy to scan them so far.

HOME versus Montclair State and Wilkes - Mar. 21

15-1, 15-7, 14-16, 15-6 vs. Montclair State

15-11, 15-1, 15-8 vs. Wilkes

Spring Break ends a few days early this year thanks to some stellar game scheduling on the part of Whitelaw and Ketchum. Apparently we could have used some more time off as we turn in two lackluster performances. With our minds still on midterms (or in Florida) we drop a game in a victory over a Montclair team that featured only five players due to injury and then start out against Wilkes by spotting them an 8-4 first game lead before finishing it up in 3. The talking chiuaua returns and makes an appearance on the bench, as does the venerable Steve “House of” Shih. Rami, still inspired by France’s victory in World Cup ‘98, attempts to head the ball over the net. Cieslak yells to Dave Wang during our third game loss to Montclair to get his head out of his ass, marking the first show of emotion by a Princeton team since the days of John Sheppard.

At Kings - Mar. 24

4-15, 13-15, 11-15

After a two and a half hour drive we just plain suck against a team we could have beaten. Rami and Matt put on the worst passing display of the year, Alex has a tough day setting, we struggle to dig some easy balls, and no one (even Randy!) has a good day hitting. We don’t even show up in the first game and then fail to take advantage of chances to win both the second and third. Hopefully we can get a rematch in the league tourney.

Club Nationals at Maryland - Apr. 7-10

No, we’re not going to nationals this year. Unlike some other schools, we actually attend something called “class” and do something called “work” during the week so we can’t afford to go on a road trip from Wednesday to Saturday. Not to mention that we only got $300 in funding from the school this year. And yes, I am bitter.

Team Night Out - Apr. 16

Not a huge showing on this friday night, but those in attendance make the most of it. After a short pregame in 112 Little, Ketchum, Cieslak, Outlaw, Bloom, and Muju set out for Cloister for some brew. We grab the first round and stake out a table just as Skinemax is turned to on the tap room TV. As the beer flows and the night progresses we come to some interesting conclusions. (1) Stale doughnuts and bagels taste good at 2 in the morning. (2) Whoever programmed every Prince song into the juke box is an ass hole. (3) Dan will never be able to get Bon Jovi to play. (4) Playing sand volleyball in 40 degree weather past midnight only seems like a good idea. (5) Dan has a crush on “that Cloister officer wearing the visor.” (6) Frank has a crush on Randy. (7) Eric talks a lot of shit when he’s drunk. (8) We need to do this more often.

MACVC Tournament at Millersville - Apr. 23

15-10, 15-12 vs. York

4-15, 10-15 vs. West Chester

15-13, 10-15, 16-18 vs. Lock Haven

The road trip starts Friday night as we all go out to the Cloister Inn for dinner. After some incredible lamb chops and some oreo pie we steal a hand of bananas and hit the road. But wait, Wang has to go buy film for his camera first. Cieslak, Randy, Ketchum, and Rami bet that he won’t take any pictures. He doesn’t. Finally, we’re on the road. We arrive in Pennsylvania Dutch country two hours later and after waiting five minutes for Steve to catch up (a delay no doubt caused by an Alex Lim navigating error) we make our way to the world famous Millersville Inn. We check in, drop off our stuff and inquire about where we can get some food. We are directed to the “House of Pie” just two blocks away. To our dismay, the restaurant is actually called the “House of Pizza” but the food was great and they even sold beer. There was no time for drinking, though - we had volleyball to play. Saturday began with 7am wake up calls and free continental breakfast. Led by our sharply dressed coach, Steve Shih, we were at the gym by 8:30 and warming up for our first opponent - York. York comes in seeded fourth. We are seeded 12th. The ref admits afterwards that he expected a short match. We come out intense, though, and beat them in two games as Rami and Matt don’t miss a pass. All we have to do now is win one of our next two matches to advance. Apparently we counted on winning the Lock Haven match because we come out like crap against West Chester and get pounded in the first game before losing a tight second. Frank checks in for Rami in game one and Ketchum in game two but can’t stem the tide, as our musical middles Dave, Dave, and Dave - no wait, I mean Dan - fail to get on track. A win against Lock Haven still would put us through, though. It is not to be, however, as we lose an incredibly close match by dropping the third game 18-16. Even Cieslak’s yelling cannot inspire us to victory as we never figure out how to stop their middles. And so, after an incredible choke we are sent packing. Before we can go, though, we have to stop by the main gym for the all division announcements, an honor that is bestowed upon our own intrepid opposite, Bertrand Dorwart. They give Randy a MACVC baseball hat as a prize. Unfortunately, Randy looks like an idiot in baseball hats so his girlfriend probably won’t let him wear it. Well, after the ubiquitous Taco Bell stop (they run out of chicken to add to the day’s disappointment) it’s back to P’ton. Despite the day’s unfortunate events, we hit the street as a team to celebrate one of the most successful seasons in Princeton Club Volleyball history. We revel in the nectar of the gods and in good stories at the Quadrangle Club and the Cloister Inn before making our way towards PJs. At the end of Prospect we are greeted by free USG pizza, though, and we adjourn to the Philosophy Lounge to enjoy it. It is then with visions of nice weather and beach volleyball in our heads that we decide to head home.

And so ends the 1998-1999 Club Volleyball Season Chronicle.

Addendum:

Reunions Match June 1999 (Posted April 7, 2000)

On the Friday of Reunions Shih and Stephens organized the first ever alumni game out on the sand at Charter. Attendance was thin – Basile came out of retirement and Gonen came out of nowhere – but a good time was had. Too bad that Dave was stuck late in New Haven. -JRS

1996-1997

Nuttiness abounds here at Princeton Club VB, so in an effort to remember what we otherwise would have forgotten, the following account will capture the blow-by-blow details of our adventures. Because it’s not about volleyball. It’s about all that other stuff - life experience, friendship, carpe diem and all that crap - but if you don’t every look back, you probably never were there.

Farewell 1996-1997

Poor turnout at the banquet, no wine coolers and no grass VB like in the days of old, the days of Tah-Teh. But this team will rage on into the sunset nonetheless. Josh accepts the burden of sliding into immortality; he and Dave take their leave and encourage future generations to continue to rage. Farewell also to Shep Pryor, the biggest nutcase and best hands ever; John Sheppard and his gut and his sweet swing; Chris Brooks, sooo alternative; Stafford Lee, eldest living member of Princeton Club VB; and Azam Samanani, our version of a meathead and the most improved player in club history.

I think I speak for the entire Club VB class of ‘97 in expressing my love for everyone involved with this team over the past four years and my gratitude for getting to play and hang with everyone. This team has made and will continue to make Princeton a better place, and I hope that those who remain and the youngsters who join them next year and in all the years to come will realize that this team represents a facet of this crazy school that no classroom can touch. A big fat “Two-Five-O” and a sweet “tah-teh” to Steve, Colleen, Terry, Lisa, all my classmates and everyone dedicated to keeping the dream alive. -Josh Stephens 19 May 1997

Senior v. Scrubs

The senior clubvb class assembles for one last hurrah. Racing against an impending “Dream Team” intramural contest, the seniors make quick work of a poorly motivated scrub squad. The key: Hit it at EKU. As the immortal Choacha once said, “The meatheads put the 15 on the board.” Well…our last 15 was posted and the biggest collection of meatheads that clubvb will hopefully ever see again made their way to the exits.

Moonachie USAV A Tournament 4.5.97

We get blown out again but have a good time nonetheless. Shep plays his final matches as a member of Pton ClubVB. Lesher returns and so does his sack. Our defense never shows up though. Too much Princeton on the brain to play good volleyball. Oh well, at least Josh can get off on the Rutgers match.

Rutgers Scrimmage 4/4/97

After many long years, we finally meet with our state-school friends from New Brunswick, and we get a lesson in consistency and team cohesion. With few starters out of the lineup, Pryor, Stephens, Ragones, Brooks, Samanani and Lee say a possible farewell to Dillon. We blow a nice lead in the first because we really weren’t warmed up, pull off the second-game win, and then fall apart for the next two. Siding out and passing were not problems, but defense and transition were.Az plays great, Rags and Steve do not. Josh, with a serious case of thesis-brain and a Monday deadline, redeems himself from a shitty first game, and Stafford surprises the pants off everyone in the fourth. Shaka Brah to the Scarlet Knights. If anyone wants to relive this one, we have it on tape!

Spring Break, March 17-23

No, we didn’t go to Florida and we didn’t make rugby shirts to commemorate the trip. Instead, the hardcore gang gathers in Dillon for a daily dose of old-fashioned playground ball. Nothing beats a volleyball study break.

Garden City USAV A Tournament

Losers.

Haverford Scrimmage

Randy wreaks revenge on that hick liberal arts school he attended (he kicked ass in the classroom too…class valedictorian thank you very much).

Women’s Round-Robin Dillon Gym 2/23/97

Princeton A d. Princeton B 15-3, 15-0, 15-7; BU d. Rutgers 15-13, 15-13, 15-9, Rutgers d. Princeton B 8-15, 15-3, 16-14; Princeton A d. Rutgers 2-1. BU points out spotty reffing and hospitality. We’re all going to charm school this summer. Early Sun. morning, Rachel Kimbrough ‘99 becomes the first woman ever to be cut from club VB. We wish her well in her other endeavors and congratulate her on her admission to Cap and Gown.

Warren USAV A Tournament 2/16/97

We get worked by the geezers. Its time to step it up in practice, work on the defense, work on the intensity.

Elections 1997 1/23/97

The dictatorship has ended. In the first free elections since May 1994, Princeton club VB has elected co-chairs for the 1997 year. Steve Shih ‘99 and Terry Tran ‘98 assume the responsibilities with aplomb.

We bring the K-Us and beat the chumps at their own game.

Thanksgiving Tournament 11/23/96

A huge day in the history of P’ton Club Volleyball. We won our pool but choked in semis against a scrappy Columbia team. UMass refuses to lose and comes away with the Turkey and Corona.

Home Women’s Match vs. Rutgers 11/21/96

A lovely home debut, despite poor attendance by the men’s team. Played great and handled the Scarlet Knights. Colleen owns the net, everyone contributes, Dillon Gym is readied for upcoming domination.

Doubleheader at UMBC 11/17/96

On perhaps the darkest day in the history of Princeton Volleyball, both men’s and women’s club teams lost competitive, but entirely winnable matches, while the varsity women’s team got knocked out of the Ivy Tournament with a loss to Yale. Hang the 250 flag at half-staff over Dillon. The rivalry w/ UMBC heats up once again - in three matches, we have three close losses, although this one was barely a match. Only Arches and a possible Prospect 12 can rectify. The women played a competitive match. Bummer, but no complaints. If we were ever to come w/ full squads, the combo of talent and moral support would be overwhelming.

Home Match vs. Villanova 11/7/96

Despite the late start, all’s well that ends well. In the absence of Shep (Illinois, med school) and Sheppard (wrist, drunk), Stephens and Brooks relive the brentwood days and step in to effect the ruination of a strong Villanova squad. Knee injury does not prevent Josh from playing to his potential; glasses bring out the worst in “Nerd” Dave. For Brooks, it’s all in the corduroy. Musical middles works well for all. Let’s hear it for solid setting and hitting the ball in the court! Thanks to the fans who showed up. Sorry, no photos; we were too busy passing nails and hammering balls.

Work Detail: W. Varsity vs. Columbia & Cornell, 11/1-2/96

Josh struggles with his journalistic integrity; decides to go for the money and the sweet Reebok shirt by calling lines. A few other people chip in, and we make super-dope, super-easy money. Chicks blow away their Ivy competition; No. 18 on Columbia is pretty cute, though (same for No. 12 on Cornell).

Boston Road Trip 10/25 - 10/27 1996

A saga of victory and perversion.

Charter Day/250th Anniversary Work Detail 10/25

On one of the most enjoyable and impressive events of our Princeton careers and under a blue sky sent straight from Heaven, we earned money, bonding and stupendous orange smocks that will forever symbolize our twofold love for team and school. There was sauciness and Sheryl Crow, ice and Toni Morrison, fireworks and fanfare all in the name of glorious higher education.

Monumental, First-Ever Women’s BB Tourney 10/13

With a roster of six and the understandable uncertainty of a brand-new endeavor, the women came away from their BB tourney with flying colors and newfound understanding of the value of youth. 5-4 in the pool, but they surged at the end, and you can never underestimate the value of a good surge. The inaugural roster: Cathleen, Colleen, Holly, Katy, Becca, Tina.

First GEVA/USAVB Men’s Tourney - 10/12

Oh my. Can you say, “incompetent tournament director?!?” Hello?!? We are in college. We should not be playing teenagers and middle-aged men who like to bat the ball around. We love everyone who plays B division, but we’re rather not pay 65 fucking dollars to play them. We’re good. We promise. Shep debuted at outside. The debut of Peter, as well. Hammering on the “ein” and making allof our lives more jolly via email. Stafford, meet Peter; Peter, meet Stafford. The guy with the glasses? Oh, that’s Ron.

Clam Bake - 10/5

Too much to describe just this moment. The Scavenger Hunt was a big success, though, and we raised a glass to Tah-Teh and the other giants of Princeton volleyball on whose shoulders we now stand. Otherwise, much carnival carousing.

Haverford - 10/5

Everyone gets to play! The ‘Ford played well on its own rubberized floor, and Randy’s fans didn’t do us much good. Props to Steve’s jump serve; dis to Randy’s directions. Next time we go Mainlining, we’re bringing a map, or at least clean needles.

First Practices

Dope.

Tryouts

Super Dope. New members include Randy, Russian spy and physics grad student extraordinaire, and the requisite pair o’ frosh, Matt Ketchum and Dave Wang.

Activities Fair

Dave & Josh sit outside trying to look as enticing as possible. Judging by the 100+ names on the list, it works.

Pre-Season

Delivering via email his summer State of Club VB address, newly installed co-chair Dave Ragones once again proposes the changes we’ve all been wanting to make for the past three years. These changes include splitting the teams and drinking more beer. the dictatorial committee passes them unanimously after consultation with Terry, Colleen, Lisa, Steve and Heather; Eliot was there too.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Sent by Irene Chang, Aug. 1997.

It all started way back when, in the spring of 1990… (sorry, we aren’t quite up to a 10yr anniv.)

Erica Brindley and I lived in the same college (WILSON) and knew each other through various activities (mutual zoo friends, but AASA mostly) and had played some intramural volleyball for AASA in the fall. we were neither good enough for PU varsity or JV, and yet ahead of most other females who had not been trained in any way (i had started in junior hi, erica played in hi school). It was a bit frustrating as we wanted to play a little more competitively, but with volleyball, you have to have people and facilities to run the drills needed to improve your game. i think it was me who casually brought up the idea of starting up a club coed volleyball team, but i don’t think i ever would have gone through with it, without erica’s encouragement. i didn’t know enough about the game really to head up a team– so i did most of the administrative work, she did most of the ‘coaching’… we talked to the club office (before karen rocco was there), got some promises for gym time and equipment, put up flyers, and had an ‘interest’ session– and were overwhelmed with over 50 people, male and female, freshmen through senior + grad students… it was very exciting! not knowing quite what to do, we set up practices twice a week, ran a bunch of drills, and left it op en to whoever wanted to show up. it was plenty of fun,and i think we actually won a school tournament (sponsored by the service organization?) but we clearly had to move onto something more…

In the fall of 1990, we began to compete, setting up A and B teams, and playing however we could set it up– we played Rutgers and Rider mostly, and usually had to play ‘open’ rules rather than coed since we played both all male and mostly male teams– we got crushed a lot… by the spring of 1991, we decided to hold team tryouts, and cut the team back to a more reasonable number of folks, who would hopefully be more committed. it was a very difficult time for us, as we turned away some very good people . but from that point, we turned a bit more ‘professional’, gained the help of a varsity player as coach (Mike Yap), and grew a lot more competitive.

by 1991, the history is a little more recent, with Sam and Greg and Stafford joining the group, you’re probably familiar with the story from here out…

some folks i would like to recognize in the development of the club, would be Jud Dagnall ‘92 and Erik Zimmitti ‘93. I wish i knew how to get in touch with them, but i’m afraid i don’t know where they are now… the best i can do is that i believe erik i s somewhere on the east coast, and jud is somewhere on the west coast!

Well, that’s all for now, i’m sure that’s more than you wanted to know, but it’s been fun for me to dig up those memories.