M. V’ball Changes Lineup At Concordia

The Harvard men’s volleyball team found itself clipped by Concordia (4-7) on Sunday in Bronxville, N.Y. The Clippers have qualified for four consecutive EIVA tournaments.

“Concordia’s a very good team that plays in the tiered division above us, and they have some talented players,” captain and setter Mike Bookman said. “We wanted to show that we can play with the best teams on the East Coast.”

Unfortunately, the Crimson (3-3, 2-1 Hay) left its “A game” at home and found itself on the unpleasant end of a 3-1 (30-22, 30-25, 27-30, 30-22) decision.

“We were very flat from the first point of the match,” Bookman said. “We didn’t convert on the opportunities we had, and it was just not our day.”

After two games, it looked like Harvard was out of the match, but the Crimson rallied to a third-game victory to stay alive before falling 30-22 in the fourth game.

Harvard simply could not put defense and offense together for this nonconference match.

Transitioning between offense and defense has plagued the Crimson thus far in its short season.

Harvard coach Rob Keller decided to address this problem by changing the lineup. Keller rotated sophomore Ryland Degnan into the libero position and shifting two other players over in an effort to increase defensive effectiveness without compromising the offensive effort.

The new rotation may have affected the team’s dynamic, but seemed to play an insignificant role in determining the final outcome.

“The lineup seems to work a lot better on defense,” sophomore outside hitter Will Reppun said. “We picked up a lot more digs.”

The Crimson finishes its four-game road swing on Sunday with a nonconference matchup against Princeton. Then Harvard will finally return to the Malkin Athletic Center for three home matches.