Yale, Brown Dominate, Keep Harvard Winless in Ivy Play

It’s over.

Playing in its last two contests of the season, the Harvard women’s volleyball team failed to pick up a victory this weekend at the Malkin Athletic Center, finishing 0-14 in the Ivy League just one year after capturing its first Ancient Eight title.

But the Crimson (3-21) didn’t go out without a fight, taking a game from first-place Yale on Saturday afternoon after being swept by Brown the night before.

“Everybody has to take something from each and every match that we’ve played this year,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said. “If they can, and if they learn from that, then they’re going to be great in the future.”

Sophomore outside hitter Laura Mahon had another solid weekend, registering 21 kills and 37 digs to lead the team.

“This year, we put Laura in a really difficult position, really switched up her role,” Weiss said. “She did a good job and she learned a lot—she’s going to be a great leader.”

YALE 3, HARVARD 1

This was it, the Crimson’s final chance to remove the imposing “0” from its league record.

But the experienced Bulldogs prevailed in a defensive battle, out-digging Harvard 99-82 to win 3-1 (30-20, 30-15, 25-30, 30-20) and move into first place in the Ivy League.

Senior defensive specialists and co-captain Elizabeth Blotky starred in her last career collegiate match, posting 10 digs and one kill on 1.000 hitting.

“To see Liz really stay consistent and be that rock for the team, that’s simply amazing,” said former Crimson middle hitter Kaego Ogbechie ’05. “I’m so, so proud of her.”

Though Yale (20-3, 11-2) dominated Harvard in the first two frames, the Crimson came out firing in the second game.

Hitting .280 and playing outstanding defense, Harvard took its first lead of the match at 9-8 on a kill by sophomore middle hitter Suzie Trimble.

Though the Bulldogs kept the game close, the Crimson never trailed again and only allowed Yale to tie the score once en route to a 30-25 win.

“We were eager to play at [the Bulldogs] and control the pace,” Weiss said. “Mainly the idea was to serve them out of their system, so if they were tentative, we had them off-balance.”

Unfortunately for Harvard, Yale was on top of its game for the rest of the night.

In the first, second, and fourth frames, the Bulldogs jumped out to large, early leads—including a 10-0 cushion in game two—before coasting to victories by double digits.

Though the Crimson’s defense performed well for most of the match, Harvard’s offense was not up to par.

“We fought hard. There’s no doubt about that,” Weiss said. “Harvard stuck to the game plan—we just have to continue to execute.”

BROWN 3, HARVARD 0

In a team sport such as volleyball, communication is everything.

However that is exactly what Harvard lacked on Friday night, losing to the Bears in three straight games, 30-23, 30-26, 30-20.

“Volleyball is a sport built on communication—it’s such an integral part of the game,” Blotky said. “We haven’t been playing cohesively as a team, and I think a lot of that stems from communication.”

While Mahon led the defensive effort with 14 digs, junior middle hitter Katie Turley-Molony penetrated the Brown block with nine kills on .438 hitting.

“You sort of have to feel it out and see what the defense is like,” Blotky said. “Tonight, Katie’s slides and [quick sets] were working a lot.”

The Crimson had its greatest success in the third game of the match.

To start the frame, Harvard was able to match the Bears (11-13, 8-5) point for point.

The game was tied nine times before the Crimson tied it up for the final time at 13, thanks to a kill from freshman outside hitter Kathryn McKinley.

But after a Brown kill, the Crimson lost momentum and could not get back on track.

“When you’re going point for point, it’s really hard to win a game,” Blotky said. “It’s all about getting two, three, four, five points in a row. Brown definitely did that tonight.”

In the second frame, Harvard also showed some fight.

Despite being down 13-6 early on, the Crimson battled back to tie the game at 18 on kills from Turley-Molony and Mahon.

But again Harvard fell short of victory, unable to keep up with the Bears.

In contrast, the first game brought nothing but trouble for the Crimson.

Falling behind 14-8, Harvard was plagued by communication issues. This led to two consecutive Brown points when multiple Crimson passers went for the same ball.

“Sometimes [communication is] there and sometimes it’s not,” Weiss said. “When it’s there, we’re okay; when it’s not, [we’re not].”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.