Seniors Go Out With A Shutout

The seniors of the Harvard men’s volleyball team are going out with a bang.

In its last game of the season, the Crimson (9-10, 6-4 Hay) powered out a 3-0 (30-27, 30-18, 32-30) sweep against New Haven (9-14, 0-8 Hay) last night at the Malkin Athletic Center.

“It was obviously good to win in three,” senior Jamie Crooks said. “For better or worse, we made it more exciting, considering our slow start and our slow finish.”

Harvard’s final game of the season doubled as senior night, as Crooks and classmates Jordan Weitzen and Brian Rapp were honored for their years on the team—fittingly on the last day of their collegiate volleyball careers.

“It was a very emotional game,” sophomore Erik Kuld said. “We really wanted to come out and win all three.”

Sophomore Soren Rosier came through in the clutch in the first game. Slamming down two well-timed kills, Rosier gave Harvard its first lead of the match, boosting the score, 26-25.

Rosier recorded seven kills over the course of the night.

The Crimson had been trailing from the beginning of the first frame. Harvard closed the gap to tie with the Chargers eight times before Rosier put the Crimson on top—and for good. With the momentum finally in its favor, the Crimson kept hold of its lead to close out the stanza, 30-27.

With Kuld serving, Harvard went on a five-point run early in the second game, putting the Crimson ahead, 6-1. Harvard only increased the scoring gap throughout the stanza. After a kill by junior captain Brady Weissbourd bumped the Crimson lead to 22-17, Harvard went on a six-point run with Weissbourd serving. The Crimson left New Haven trailing by a match-high 12 points at the end of the frame, 30-18.

In game three, Harvard took an early lead, but the Chargers kept on the Crimson’s heels throughout the stanza. New Haven went on a 9-3 run in the middle of the final frame to seize the lead, leaving Harvard behind, 19-22. A Kuld kill put the Crimson back on top, 28-27.

In a tight race to the end, the final round was pushed to extra points and featured two more lead changes and three more ties before Harvard finally nailed the victory. Weissbourd pounded out a kill to give the Crimson a 31-30 edge, and a Charger misfire ended the game in Harvard’s favor, 32-30.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever finished a season with a win, and it feels good,” Crooks said.

Weissbourd led the team in kills, slamming down a match-high 18 kills for a .640 attacking percentage, and served up four aces. Kuld put down 11 kills of his own. Senior Jamie Crooks knocked out ten kills and a serving ace, while senior Brian Rapp made seven kills and ten digs. And sophomore setter Gil Weintraub led a solid offense with 46 assists, six digs, three serving aces and a kill.

Although the Crimson missed out on the EIVA playoffs for the third time in as many years, Harvard still considers its season a success.

“Given how young our squad was, the group of guys coming in and what me, Brian and Jordan are leaving behind, I think it’d be hard to make the argument that our season was not successful.” Crooks said.

With a hard-fought season behind it, the Crimson is now looking forward to the year to come.

“We all learned a lot this season,” Kuld said, “and I think we’ll have a very strong season next year. We’ll be missing our seniors, but we’ve got some great recruits coming up…I’m just really looking forward to next season. And hopefully we’ll do a lot better.”

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.