M. Volleyball Falls in Season Finale

Zero point zero zero zero. That’s the kind of night it was.

Playing in its regular-season finale with almost nothing at stake, the Harvard men’s volleyball team posted a 0.000 hitting percentage and was routed 3-0 (30-21, 30-21, 30-22) by EIVA conference rival St. Francis Friday evening in Loretto, Pa.

The defeat, coming exactly one week after the Crimson snapped its 13-match win streak against Rutgers-Newark, marked Harvard’s first three-game loss of the season.

“We came down here and played what was definitely our worst game of the season,” said junior middle hitter John Freese. “There was no fire behind us.”

Having already clinched its division and secured a spot in the upcoming EIVA playoffs, the only goal left for Harvard (13-5, 9-3 Sweeney) was to try for a promotion to the upper-tier Tait division next year.

But with the Red Flash (12-11, 10-2 Hay) 1 1/2 games back of Queens—a team which had the Crimson earlier this year—even a win by Harvard wouldn’t have helped it in its quest to move out of the Sweeney division.

St. Francis, on the other hand, was in control of its own destiny. A win against the Crimson would set up a Hay division championship showdown with Queens on Saturday.

So with its EIVA playoffs and Tait division aspirations hanging in the balance, the Red Flash delivered, pounding a suddenly ineffective Harvard squad en route to a three-game sweep.

St. Francis went on to defeat Queens Saturday night to clinch the division and a playoff berth.

“This week we found out we couldn’t move up [to the Tait division], so our attitude in practice was down,” sophomore setter Dave Fitz said. “We were dejected we weren’t going to move up—we didn’t have anything to play for.”

From the very beginning, it was clear that the Crimson was not mentally prepared to play. The mistakes were plentiful, especially when Harvard was on the attack.

Out of the 12 players who entered the match, only junior middle hitter Seamus McKiernan—named EIVA Player of the Week on April 12—posted double-digit kills with 11 on the night.

Three of the Crimson’s starters actually registered negative hitting percentages.

“We just came out, and we didn’t do well from the start,” Freese said. “One mistake kind of led to another. It was really just a shame.”

Despite serving well and playing decent defense, Harvard’s offensive woes prevented it from making any kind of run at St. Francis.

After quickly falling behind in the first frame, the Crimson managed only eight kills on -.054 hitting. Though Harvard was able to prevent the Red Flash from streaking away with the game, their attack errors led to an eventual 30-21 loss.

The second and third frames were more of the same. St. Francis dictated the net play and did not allow the Crimson to post more than 10 kills in either game.

With nothing going right on offense, Harvard succumbed, ending the regular season on an especially low note.

“All night we had a hard time doing the easy things,” Freese said. “Nothing went right for us. It’s a tough loss to swallow.”

The Crimson doesn’t have too much time to lick its wounds before gearing up for the postseason.

The EIVA playoffs start Saturday, and Harvard will be facing No. 3 Penn State—a team that has gone undefeated in EIVA play.

And while the Crimson won’t deny that a daunting task lies ahead, underdog Harvard feels that an upset is possible.

“We have a chance to beat Penn State, but we have to fire on all cylinders,” Fitz said. “If we put everything together, we might be able to steal the match.”

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