W. Volleyball Sits Alone Atop Ivy League

The Harvard women’s volleyball team certainly knows a thing or two about streaks.

The Crimson (9-5, 4-0 Ivy) topped league opponents Columbia and Cornell at the Malkin Athletic Center this weekend as it ran off its fourth straight Ivy win to open the season and its fifth in a row at home.

In defeating the Big Red 3-2 in a head-to-head matchup of the Ancient Eight’s only 3-0 teams, Harvard also snapped its streak of losing five-frame matches at eight, winning for the first time since Nov. 2, 2002, when the Crimson edged Brown 3-2.

“Last year, we had a great team, but we had a lot of trouble closing in the fifth game,” said senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer. “This year’s team has such a palpably different attitude. We got to those last couple of points, and I knew—and I felt like everyone else on the court knew—that this was our match.”

With the Bears’ loss to Penn on Saturday, Harvard remains the only undefeated team in the Ivy League. The Quakers have struggled to a 1-2 start, and the Crimson can all but knock the defending league champions out of the race with a win against them next weekend.

“In these games, I think the key is just to make sure that we do our jobs individually and as a team and not worry about the other side so much,” co-captain Kim Gould said. “We can handle whatever they bring us as long as we’re doing what we want to do on our side.”

HARVARD 3, CORNELL 2

After a relatively slow-paced night against Columbia, Harvard’s 3-2 (30-27, 23-30, 30-24, 27-30, 15-13) win against Cornell (9-4, 3-1) resembled a game of pinball.

The two teams split the first four games, setting up a thrilling finish.

Though the Big Red never took the lead in the fifth game, the Crimson did not lead by more than two points until a monstrous kill by co-captain Kaego Ogbechie pushed the score to 13-10. After a timeout, the Big Red rallied for three straight points, knotting the score at 13. But a kill by Schweitzer put Harvard at match point. As Schweitzer went to serve, Cornell called another timeout.

“I was thinking I was going to get an ace,” Schweitzer said. “I knew we were going to win that match.”

While Schweitzer did not get her ace, a wide kill by the Big Red sent the Crimson to the top of the Ivy League standings and into a flurry of celebration.

“We did a great job of staying calm and composed,” Gould said. “[Winning] feels amazing. This game was really important in setting the tone for the rest of the season.”

As the fourth game began, ghosts of the past lingered. Though every team likes closing out matches in the fourth frame, it was especially important to Harvard, considering it had lost all six matches which went the distance in 2003. The Big Red jumped out to an imposing 28-21 lead, but the Crimson refrained from using a timeout. Nevertheless, Ogbechie and Schweitzer led a furious counterattack of six straight points culminating with an ace. Cornell, however, took the next two points to close out the frame and force the tiebreaker.

“The danger in the fifth game,” Gould said, “is that since it is so quick, it can be easy to get frantic and lose a streak of points in a row.”

The first frame was close throughout, with the score being tied six times. After the two teams were knotted at 18, Harvard jumped out to a four-point lead, prompting the Big Red to call a timeout with the score at 28-24. An ensuing mini-rally by Cornell forced the Crimson to turn to the huddle with game point hanging at 29-27. But Ogbechie registered a reverberating kill to secure the Harvard win.

“[Cornell] is a really good team,” Schweitzer said. “It was tight all the way, and I think we fought hard all the way through.”

In the second frame, the Harvard responded to the Big Red’s 27-20 lead by firing off three straight points, forcing Cornell to take a timeout. The Big Red went on to close out the game with a three-point run of its own.

The Crimson reestablished its control during the third frame, jumping out to a 23-19 lead. The resulting Cornell timeout, however, proved to be to Harvard’s advantage, with kills by freshman outside hitter Laura Mahon and Schweitzer and a crucial block by Ogbechie helping the Crimson take seven of the next 11 points.

Mahon logged a double-double, recording a team-high 20 kills and match-high 27 digs. Schweitzer also chipped in with a strong effort, notching 18 digs to go along with 17 kills.

The Crimson posted eight aces, including three from Schweitzer and three from the jump-serving Mahon.

HARVARD 3, COLUMBIA 0

Coming off a homestand in which it swept Dartmouth and Marist, the Crimson continued the trend with a dominating 3-0 (30-16, 30-16, 30-13) win over the Lions.

Ogbechie had a solid all-around effort, recording 11 kills and a team-high 15 digs. Freshman middle blocker Suzie Trimble led all hitters with 14 kills.

In game one, the two sides traded points until Columbia (2-14, 0-4) called a timeout with the score at 14-11. From there, Harvard went on a 16-5 run to end the game with a series of kills by Ogbechie and Trimble.

“Our goal was to push the middle a little bit,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said. “We felt like we were stronger there, and our setters did a good job of moving the [Columbia] blockers.”

The second frame started off in a similar fashion, as the contest remained relatively even up until the Crimson forged a 15-12 lead. Harvard regained its rhythm, conceding only four more points en route to another 30-16 win.

“You never want to play down to any level,” Ogbechie said. “I think that was our issue in the first game and the beginning of the second game.”

“It was just about building momentum,” added junior libero Elizabeth Blotky.

Harvard carried that momentum into the third game, jumping out to an 11-1 lead with two aces by Blotky and one by Mahon.

The Crimson cruised for the remainder of the frame, posting just two attack errors while slamming 17 kills.

Throughout the match, the Lions proved vulnerable to Harvard’s traditional floating serve. Columbia’s defensive weakness—with the Lions registering only three team blocks the entire night—allowed Trimble to dictate the middle.

“Suzie played awesome,” Blotky said. “She was definitely the go-to player today.”