Injuries Play Key Role In Heart-Breaking Loss

What should have been an easy victory for the Harvard men’s volleyball team was marred by a series of injuries to a few of the Crimson’s key players.

Harvard was defeated last night by Newbury, 3-1(30-24, 30-32, 30-25, 30-28), at the Malkin Athletic Center. Without an entire team, the Crimson was only able to win the second of four games.

Sophomore setter Gil Weintraub and sophomore middle Soren Rosier were both sidelined for most of the match.

“The most important part was that we didn’t have two players on the court,” head coach Jose Barbosa said. “Both of them were injured. My setter has a hurt wrist and one of my middles bent his ankle.”

Due to the missing players, Harvard’s entire lineup shifted. The usual libero, senior Brian Rapp, was filling in for setter. Taking Rapp’s spot was freshmen Jeff Nathan, who saw increased time on the court.

Coming in to the game, the Crimson was unsure of what to expect playing with the new rotation.

“We had mixed feelings,” senior Jordan Weitzen said. “We hit the game away again, like we did against Endicott. We just made a lot of errors that we probably shouldn’t have made.”

Newbury started off strong, taking the lead early in the opening game. The Crimson struggled to play catch up, but never succeeded, losing the first contest, 24-30.

Although sophomore Erik Kuld slammed down a total of 19 kills, his point late in the game that tied the score at 22 did not prove sufficient to rally Harvard back for the win.

The second game looked to be a repeat of the first, with Newbury quickly taking a 4-1 lead.

But a massive block from junior Brady Weissbourd and an error by Newbury allowed Harvard to tie the game soon after at 4-4. Kuld then had two key spikes, which allowed the Crimson to pull ahead, 11-7. From this point, the game was back and forth until Harvard took the lead, 31-30.

Weitzen sealed the victory, 32-30, by faking a powerful spike and just barely tapping the ball over.

Game three mirrored the first two, with Newbury quickly grabbing an 8-2 lead.

Nothing seemed to be going the Crimson’s way, as they racked up a large percentage of their 26 total errors in this set. Harvard trailed throughout the third game and ultimately yielded, 30-25.

The Crimson took an 11-7 lead in the fourth game, finally starting off with momentum. Although Newbury quickly caught up, senior Jamie Crooks came up with a huge kill, one of his 14 total, which brought Harvard out front, 12-11.

Despite maintaining a steady lead for the entire final set, Newbury caught up when it counted, tying the score, 28-28. Two points later Newbury secured its victory, 30-28.

Harvard had a significant number of errors throughout the match, but the real problem was their injured players.

“I think they played their best,” Barbosa said. “But two of the most important parts of the team were missing from the court.”

The Crimson hopes that its injured players will be able to play this Friday so that Harvard can resume its standard lineup against its big competitor, New York University.

The Crimson needs to win this EIVA conference game to achieve a solid position as it strives to compete in the playoffs.

“We have to rest up tonight, tomorrow and be ready to play,” Weitzen said. “That is a must win game.”

Harvard faces off against New York University this Friday in the Malkin Athletic Center at 7 p.m.