Convincing Victory Proves Worth the Wait

A delayed start did not slow down the Crimson last night, as the team cruised to an easy 3-0 victory over New Haven at the Malkin Athletic Center, sweeping the best-of-five series. After dropping Saturday’s match to Springfield, ending a five-match winning streak, Harvard came out swinging to win the opening three games by margins of 30-18, 30-26, and 30-25.

The Crimson saw three of its players notch double digits in kills, with sophomore Brady Weissbourd, captain Laurence Favrot, and senior Andy Nelson hitting 14, 12, and 10 kills, respectively.

“The whole roster played well tonight,” Harvard coach Chris Ridolfi said. “We were able to get everybody some quality time.”

Though the series was a quick one, it did not seem so for the Crimson, as the Chargers’ tardy arrival pushed the game start back about half an hour. Harvard decided to extend its warmup to accommodate its visitors.

“It felt like we were playing a five-game match instead of three,” senior setter Dave Fitz said. “We were very pleased to get out in three, just because if we had had to play more than that, some of us would have gone a little stir-crazy.”

Despite the delay, Ridolfi had a plan to keep his players focused during the game.

“We had a couple of people [moved to] different positions,” Ridolfi said. “That was to give them something else to think about because we had been there forever.”

The deciding third game sealed the Crimson’s victory as it tallied a .517 hitting percentage, defeating New Haven by five points. Harvard managed 20 kills in the game, doubling The Chargers’ total. Despite the Crimson’s precision, New Haven kept the final game close, coming within three points after a 5-1 run late in the match. After the teams exchanged points, Harvard took the game with a kill and a Chargers error, wrapping up, 30-25.

The final game came after a Crimson slump in the second contest. Harvard attained a much lower hitting percentage of .129, as it let New Haven take an 8-5 lead to start the game. The Chargers’ 13 kills and .222 hitting percentage were not enough to maintain its advantage, however, and a few short runs by the Crimson pushed it to a 27-21 lead late in the game. Despite a final 4-0 push by New Haven, a kill and an ace by Weissbourd ended the game in Harvard’s favor, 30-26.

More than sufficiently warmed up for the first game, the Crimson opened the night in good form, accumulating 18 kills on its way to a .371 hitting percentage. The freshly-arrived Chargers could not keep up with Harvard after an initially close start, and as a 10-2 Crimson run pushed Harvard’s lead to nine points, The Crimson never looked back. Committing only five errors in 35 total attempts helped to seal an easy 30-18 victory, which set the tone for the rest of its impressive match.

Because Harvard’s upcoming contest against MIT is not until next Wednesday, Ridolfi has decided to give his players a four-day respite before their next practice.

“It’s going to be great rest for us,” Fitz said. “Friday and Saturday are huge matches.”

The Crimson hopes to have freshman setter Gil Weintraub back before next week’s games—he has sat out the past four contests due to mononucleosis. His condition is being reevaluated tomorrow.