W. Volleyball Struggles in Losses to Temple, Rutgers

A week after winning the New England Challenge to begin the season, the Harvard women’s volleyball team ran into some trouble on the road, losing both its matches yesterday at the Rutgers Embassy Suites Classic in Piscataway, N.J.

Facing opponents who were much deeper into their seasons, the Crimson (2-3) was unable to maintain its rhythm, winning only one game all day.

“We just didn’t bring anything to the table,” co-captain Sarah Cebron said. “If it had been a different day, we could have come out with two wins.”

Sophomore middle hitter Suzie Trimble, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, picked up all-tournament honors for the second consecutive week, registering 18 kills in the two matches.

“Suzie is doing a great job getting open for sets,” Cebron said. “She hits really high above the net, and teams just can’t stop her.”

RUTGERS 3, HARVARD 0

Harvard was playing in the Scarlet Knights’ house, and the host team wasn’t going to let the Crimson forget it.

Rutgers (5-8) kept the pressure on throughout the match, posting a .405 hitting percentage en route to a 3-0 (30-27, 30-22, 30-18) sweep of Harvard yesterday afternoon.

“They set up a really quick low ball that we had trouble adjusting to,” Cebron said. “Our defense wasn’t in position a lot.”

As the first frame began, neither the Scarlet Knights nor the Crimson seemed to be able to establish an edge. The game featured seven tied scores, with the last one coming at 19-19.

But Rutgers then went on to take 11 of the next 19 points, capitalizing on Harvard’s errors to take the 1-0 match lead.

“It’s just a matter of finding consistency,” co-captain Elizabeth Blotky said. “When our hitting was good, our ball control was lacking; suddenly we would get the ball control back and our hitting would be lacking.”

Feeding off its momentum, the Scarlet Knights’ offense exploded in the next two frames, posting 24 kills in the second game and hitting a whopping .552 in the third frame.

On the other side of the net, the Crimson found itself unable to penetrate Rutgers’ defense, hitting under .200 for the remainder of the match.

With the Scarlet Knights’ attack smothering Harvard, Rutgers established a 13-7 gap in the second game and never looked back. The Crimson would never lead again in the match, falling 30-22 and 30-18.

“We were never really in our system on offense or on defense,” Cebron said. “We were never really playing as a cohesive unit.”

TEMPLE 3, HARVARD 1

In an error-filled match that featured a 0.000 hitting percentage frame by each team, Harvard was unable to overcome the Owls, succumbing 3-1 (30-20, 26-30, 30-12, 30-23) in its first match.

Trying to build upon its early-season success, the Crimson won the second game of the match but was unable to sustain its attack, posting eight errors to go along with eight kills in the third frame.

“In the third game, our passing really broke down,” Cebron said. “Everything sort of crumbled after that.”

After dropping the first game 30-20, Harvard came to life in the second frame. Paced by sophomore Mimi Hanley and junior Katie Turley-Molony, who each had nine kills in the match, the Crimson took advantage of Temple’s 11 errors to seal its victory, 30-26.

The Owls (7-7), however, bounced back in game three. Showing why it’s favored to win the Atlantic-10’s East division, Temple regained its rhythm and kept Harvard off balance, cruising to a 30-12 win.

Despite the Crimson’s best efforts, the Owls would carry that momentum into the fourth frame, closing out the match, 30-23.

“Maybe it’s just a facet of us being really new to the court,” Blotky said, “but I don’t think we showed up to play today.”

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