W. Volleyball Wins Thriller

With three high school squads in the stands to learn, the Harvard women’s volleyball team delivered a lesson in team chemistry.

Rebounding from a fourth-game loss, the Crimson (1-3) took a thrilling tiebreaker 15-12 to down New Hampshire 3-2 last night at the Malkin Athletic Center.

“It’s an emotional match every time we play,” said Harvard Coach Jennifer Weiss. “We played with confidence and executed what we wanted to execute.”

Harvard may have drawn some confidence from the lively home crowd, featuring the varsity, junior varsity and freshman girls’ teams of Everrett High.

The Crimson, playing its home opener, was cheered wildly with each point of the tiebreak.

After Harvard rushed to a 14-8 lead behind the power game of sophomore outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer, the Wildcats (3-8) reeled off four straight points.

But with the crowd stomping and clapping in rhythm, sophomore middle hitter Kaego Ogbechie smashed a powerful kill to give the Crimson the match.

“I think the crowd really helped us,” said senior setter and captain Mindy Jellin. “We were down all last weekend, and playing at home with something to play for really helped.”

Harvard trailed 19-17 in the first game, but rallied to take 10 of the next 13 points before winning 30-26.

UNH rebounded, though, with a dominant 30-16 victory in the second game, highlighted by strong net play from 6’3 outside hitter Lan Dai.

Dai was just one of four Wildcat starters starters standing at least six feet.

“Some of their hitters were bigger than ours,” Weiss said, “but we concentrated on our defense.”

Leading the Crimson defensively was junior outside hitter Allison Bendush. The shortest Crimson starter at 5’7, Bendush posted a team-high 16 digs and, along with Ogbechie, led the team with 17 kills.

“She’s really ball saavy,” Weiss said. “You can be as high as high can be, but it doesn’t help if you hit the same shot every time.”

Jellin also picked up a double-double, with 52 assists and 12 digs on the evening.

With the score tied at one game apiece, Harvard convincingly took the 2-1 lead. Holding an 8-7 lead, a kill by junior middle hitter Mariah Pospisil catalyzed a 10-2 Crimson run that helped Harvard cruise to a 30-22 victory.

“What I was really happy with was our energy,” Jellin said. “Most of us knew we could play this way. It’s good to play how we knew we could.”

A 30-27 loss in the fourth game set up the tiebreak.

The Crimson led 26-24, before a big kill by junior outside hitter Alyson Coler shifted the momentum to UNH. Coler, the Wildcats’ most effective weapon, posted a match-high 27 kills along with 13 digs.

The Crimson will next travel to the Northwestern Tournament in Evanston, Ill., where it will face-off against midwest programs Loyola-Chicago, DePaul and Northwestern.

“The mentality is to play the hard competition to get better,” Weiss said. “You’ve got to beat the best to be the best.”

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu