SEASON RECAP: Women's Volleyball

Are we there yet?

For the past three seasons, that was the question that had lingered in the minds of the players and coaches of the Harvard women’s volleyball team. Always competing and always in the championship race, the Crimson was coming close to achieving that monumental first Ivy League title—but it always fell a step or two short.

In 2004, however, Harvard finally announced its arrival. Finishing the season tied with three other teams with 10-4 league records, the Crimson won its first Ivy championship in the 27-year history of Harvard women’s volleyball.

“From day one, since I’ve been on Harvard’s courts, my class—the Class of ’05—has striven to win an Ivy title,” co-captain Kaego Ogbechie said. “Winning the title is an amazing feeling, but it’s kind of a payoff—we started the search for an Ivy title four years ago.”

This season, the Crimson discovered the formula for success, combining senior leadership with young athleticism. With six newcomers out of 12 total players, it was evident from the beginning that the younger players would have to step up.

The recruits did not disappoint. Freshman outside hitter Laura Mahon—in the top three on the team in service aces, points, and kills per game and the team leader in digs per game—earned Ivy League Rookie of the Year accolades for her high level of play, and classmate Suzie Trimble was a force down the middle.

“The surprise of the season was to be able to put six newcomers in and still maintain such great team chemistry,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said. “That comes from the maturity of the upperclassmen.”

The leadership of the senior class was indeed a crucial factor. Co-captain Kim Gould orchestrated the show, spreading the ball to a variety of weapons along the outside and down the middle. And Ogbechie, the Ivy League Player of the Year, and senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer, second team All-Ivy, led the attack for Harvard, pounding opponents with over three kills per game each.

“The members of the Class of ’05 have been great leaders,” Weiss said. “Where the three seniors have brought our program is tremendous.”

The biggest difference from last season was Harvard’s ability to close out matches.

On Oct. 9, the Crimson defeated Cornell 3-2 to end a streak of eight straight losses in five-frame contests, which dated back to Nov. 2, 2002, and take sole control of the Ivy League.

Harvard then went on to win two more critical down-to-the-wire matches, holding off defending champion Penn at the Palestra and upending Brown in Providence to maintain its hold on first place in the standings.

The Crimson eventually succumbed in five games to Yale in its last contest of the season, falling in the playoffs that determined the recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. But that didn’t diminish what Harvard had already achieved.

“We did realize that we had a great season and that we had come such a long way, especially the senior class,” Ogbechie said.

With the graduation of three of the team’s leaders, however, the younger players have big shoes to fill. The departure of Ogbechie and Schweitzer means that Mahon, Trimble, and sophomore Katie Turley-Molony will have to increase their offensive output. Sophomore Sarah Cebron, one of next year’s captains, will be responsible for taking over Gould’s passing duties. And with five more freshmen coming in, the leadership of Blotky, the other captain and the only senior-to-be, will be crucial.

But if 2004 is any indication, the Crimson is primed to make a run at the Ivy title again next season.

“[The younger players] are natural competitors,” Ogbechie said. “I see another Ivy title in their future.”

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