W. Volleyball Sets Up Title Showdown With Penn

The Harvard women’s volleyball team’s victories this weekend against Brown and Yale keep the Crimson atop the Ivy League and in control of its destiny on its quest for the Ivy championship.

Harvard (13-8, 9-1 Ivy) fell behind to Brown (8-13, 4-5) on Friday night before coming back to defeat the Bears, 3-2.

After the scare the night before, the Crimson regrouped and played a more solid match against Yale (10-9, 4-5), dispatching with the Elis in three quick games.

The Crimson could clinch the Ivy title next weekend if it beats both Princeton (13-5, 6-3) and Penn (17-4, 8-1). The Quakers are the only Ivy team to beat Harvard this year.

The position Harvard currently enjoys is a remarkable contrast to last season, when the Crimson recorded only three Ivy wins.

“We have a great team, everybody wants to win, and everybody has been working extremely hard this year,” said sophomore outside hitter Kaego Ogbechie. “It feels better knowing all of our hard work paid off [this season].”

Next weekend is also the alumni and parents weekend and the last home series for the Crimson.

Harvard 3, Yale 0

Harvard showed no ill effects from its struggles against Brown with a convincing three-game victory over the Elis (30-21, 34-32, 30-21).

The Crimson’s setter, captain Mindy Jellin, distributed the ball to several different Harvard weapons, allowing four players to post kills in double figures. Jellin also had 50 assists in the match—six more than she had in five games against Brown.

“Yale played well too, but we just really stepped it up,” said junior outside hitter Ali Bendush.

Yale proved very tough in the second game, but Harvard still triumphed, 34-32.

Bendush turned in an impressive performance with her second double-double of the weekend—10 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer also had a double-double, with 11 kills and 10 digs.

Ogbechie anchored the offense, scoring 18 kills while sophomore setter Kim Gould showed through on the defensive end with 20 digs.

“Kim Gould and Ashley Atkins have been playing outstanding defensively, I think they move very well on the court,” Ogbechie said. “They’re just leaders on the court, leaders by example.”

The Crimson had little trouble handling the limited Bulldog weapons. No Yale player posted a double-double, and only two players were able to register kills in the double figures.

“We definitely played a lot better because we knew that at Brown we were playing a little slower and maybe not realizing the importance of the game,” Ogbechie said.

Harvard 3, Brown 2

Despite coming out strong with a win in the first game of the match, the Crimson faltered in its second and third against Brown. But Harvard recovered and dispensed with the Bears after forcing the match to a tiebreaker for its second straight win over last year’s Ivy co-champions (30-27, 22-30, 31-33, 30-27, 15-9).

“We were making our own mistakes—it was really our fault,” Ogbechie said. “But we didn’t panic, we stayed calm, and decided we need to the play to the speed we always play.”

Despite the less than impressive win, Bendush recorded her first double-double of the weekend with 11 kills and 15 digs. Gould also displayed an impressive game, providing 20 digs and Ogbechie had 23 kills.

“After that game we knew that we came up with a win, but we also knew that we had to improve for [Yale],” Ogbechie said.