W. Volleyball Splits Road Matchups With Killer P's

Facing a tough pair of road contests this weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball team came up one game short of maintaining its undefeated record in the Ivy League.

After defeating Penn 3-2 in front of a hostile crowd on Friday night, the Crimson (10-6, 5-1 Ivy) dropped its first league match of the year to Princeton 3-2 on Saturday.

“[Saturday’s loss] was definitely an emotional letdown from Friday,” said senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer.

“It’s a tough loss,” co-captain Kaego Ogbechie added.

While Harvard is no longer undefeated in league play, it remains at the top of the Ancient Eight, leading the Tigers (13-4, 4-1) by half a game as it heads into next weekend’s homestand against Yale and Brown.

“We all learned some important lessons this weekend,” Schweitzer said. “There’s a general sense of wanting to refocus our energy this week in practice. We need to be prepared physically and mentally to take every team.”

PRINCETON 3, HARVARD 2

Heading into the match with a perfect Ivy record, the Crimson rallied from an early 2-0 deficit but fell in the fifth frame in a 3-2 (30-25, 30-19, 26-30, 25-30, 15-8) loss to Princeton.

Hitting only .045 and passing inefficiently in the deciding game, Harvard found it difficult to establish a rhythm. The Tigers jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and held it the rest of the way.

“The fifth game was not particularly how we usually play,” Ogbechie said. “We got in a rut in the start—the first few points set the tone for the game.”

Despite the disappointing nature of the loss, the Harvard players were not discouraged.

“The great thing about the Ivy League is that you play everyone twice,” Ogbechie said. “We’re going to see them again on our home turf. To be able to play them again is a great thing.”

After a shaky performance in the first two frames of the match, the Crimson found its offensive rhythm in game three. The front row executed effectively, contributing significantly to Harvard’s .415 hitting percentage and 22 kills en route to a 30-26 win.

The Crimson carried the momentum into the fourth frame. The defense performed solidly, holding off a strong Princeton effort to take the game 30-25.

“We knew from the start that the game was going to be played with a lot of scrappiness,” Ogbechie said. “In games three and four, we turned on the defense.”

In the first frame, it was the Tigers who defended well, forcing Harvard to commit eight attack errors. This trend continued into the second game, with the Crimson hitting a feeble .024, a by-product of its 10 attack errors.

“We lost the first two games because of our own errors,” co-captain Kim Gould said. “We weren’t passing very well; we made a lot of errors that we could have controlled.”

Fatigue may have been a factor in Harvard’s loss. After going a full five frames against the Quakers, the Crimson was pushed to the limit for the third match in a row.

Katie Turley-Molony led the offense down the stretch, recording a match-high 20 kills.

“We had a great attack from the right side,” Ogbechie said. “Katie is an extremely intense and very versatile player.”

The co-captain chipped in with 16 kills and 17 digs.

HARVARD 3, PENN 2

There’s nothing sweeter than the sound of silence—especially in a gym full of obnoxious Penn fans.

After three consecutive years of losing at The Palestra, Harvard rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Quakers 3-2 (30-27, 28-30, 28-30, 30-25, 15-8).

“It was a really emotional win because every year [Penn] has been such a roadblock for us,” Schweitzer said. “Their gym is so big, there were so many fans there, and they were so loud—to beat them in their home gym was amazing.”

“There are tons of obnoxious fans,” Ogbechie added. “We did our job of blocking it all out. We shut down the Penn ego.”

The win extended the Crimson’s unbeaten Ivy streak to five matches while delivering a huge blow to the slumping Quakers (8-7, 2-3).

“We all really, really wanted it,” Gould said. “We’ve had a long-standing rivalry with Penn, and even the freshmen know about it. It’s exciting to be able to put a match like that away.”

Ogbechie led the team offensively, posting a match-high 29 kills to go along with seven digs.

“Kaego really stepped up against Penn,” Gould said. “She always generates so much energy from everyone else. Her stepping it up like that has a huge effect on the rest of us.”

“Kaego can really dominate at the net,” Schweitzer added.

Harvard got off to a good start, posting 17 kills and only two attack errors to take the first game 30-27.

But the Quakers turned the tables on the Crimson, forcing 14 Harvard errors to take the next two frames 30-28. But being down 2-1 had little effect on the Crimson players.

“With the league being so close and competitive, being 2-1 down or tied at 2-2 is pretty common,” Ogbechie said. “The score doesn’t really matter.”

Harvard regained its rhythm in the fourth game, registering 21 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. The momentum carried the Crimson through the fifth frame as it held Penn to a negative hitting percentage en route to a thrilling 15-8 win.

“I am really confident that we can take them in three [games] next time,” Ogbechie said.

“If we play well, I believe that we are fully capable of beating any team,” Gould added. “The key is to focus one game at a time.”