Penn State Sweeps M. Volleyball Aside in EIVA Quarterfinals

Fee, fi, fo, fum—this time, the giant won.

Despite a valiant effort, the Harvard men’s volleyball team was unable to overcome the disciplined hitting and blocking of No. 3 Penn State, falling to the top-seeded Nittany Lions 3-0 (30-17, 30-23, 30-15) Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the EIVA playoffs at Rec Hall in University Park, Pa.

“[The Nittany Lions] were the best team we’ve seen,” sophomore setter Dave Fitz said. “It’s discipline—they just did the little things right.”

Coming into the match, the eighth-seeded Crimson (13-6) knew that it was going to be an uphill battle. Penn State (28-6) had run through its EIVA slate undefeated, only dropping five conference games all season.

But the gritty Harvard squad scrapped and held its own for parts of the match, preventing the Nittany Lions from jumping out to large early leads.

“At some times,” captain Juan Ramos said, “we couldn’t believe how much we were on par with them.”

The Crimson played its finest volleyball to start off the second frame, opening up small cushions of one and two points.

With Penn State suddenly struggling on offense, it seemed as if Harvard might be able to steal a game from the Nittany Lions.

But with the game tied at 14, Penn State started to get back into its rhythm, passing and hitting well. After posting two kills and an ace to take a 17-14 lead—the largest margin of the frame for either team up until that point—the Nittany Lions took 13 of the next 22 points to streak to a 30-23 victory.

“[The Nittany Lions] had some big hits, they had some big serves,” Ramos said. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Indeed, in the first game, Penn State did not register a single attacking error, hitting .684 while Harvard attacked at a feeble .067 clip.

Though the Crimson traded points with the Nittany Lions early in the frame, Penn State went on a 15-8 run to win 30-17.

After the closely fought second game, the third frame was anticlimactic. The Nittany Lions’ defense—notching 11 team blocks, eight more than Harvard—shut down the Crimson attack, holding Harvard to a negative hitting percentage en route to a 30-15 clincher.

“[Penn State] put up such a disciplined block,” Fitz said. “It’s tough to hit around two blocks.”

Though the 3-0 defeat brought the Crimson’s season to a close, the players noted how much progress the team had made over the course of the year.

“Our program is on the rise,” Fitz said. “We’re just going to try and establish a credible team here at Harvard.”

“It has truly been an experience and a pleasure to play with these guys—especially the seniors,” Ramos added. “I couldn’t have had a better end to my career in volleyball.”

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