Harvard Downed Twice in Tough Weekend

It was the perfect David versus Goliath matchup. But this time, Goliath had no problem taking care of David.

The Harvard men’s volleyball team entered Big Ten country last Friday with plans of upsetting defending national champion Penn State, only to leave town as the Nittany Lions’ latest victim, 3-0. The very next day, Harvard (2-4, 0-2) fell to league foe East Stroudsburg, 3-0, despite beating the Warriors just a week ago at home.

EAST STROUDSBURG 3, HARVARD 0

The Crimson entered Saturday’s game against East Stroudsburg looking to rebound from its loss against Penn State, but fell to the Warriors 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-27) in East Stroudsburg, Penn.

Harvard stayed competitive throughout the entire game, but Warrior senior Jon Daley was too much to handle, tallying 14 kills, seven digs, and one block. Senior captain Brady Weissbourd was the lone standout for the Crimson, accounting for a match-high 16 kills, four blocks, and scoring 20.5 of Harvard’s 47 points.

“We were pretty determined to win the match and end the road trip on a positive note,” coach Brian Baise said. “Unfortunately, we ended up more mentally tired and exhausted than we thought.”

Hurting the Crimson offensively was the absence of freshman phenom Nikola Ivica, who sat out with an elbow injury.

Several of the players also attributed the long journey as a reason for the loss against East Stroudsburg.

“In general, it had been a really long weekend,” junior Soren Rosier said. “We spent many, many long hours on a bus and hotel...By the time we got to East Stroudsburg, our heads weren’t in the right place.”

Despite a solid defensive showing and decent passing, Harvard struggled to score points when it needed to. The Crimson averaged a team attack percentage of only .161, .062, and .161 in the first, second, and third games, respectively.

“We’re just having a hard time scoring points on offense,” Baise said. “We’d like to be, as a team, around .250 and .300, and that’s the stat that really matters.”

NO. 1 PENN STATE 3, HARVARD 0

Penn State showed why it is the current number one team in the country, decisively beating Harvard in a 3-0 (30-13, 30-13, 30-20) sweep on Friday night at Rec Hall in State College, Penn.

“Penn State is a really great team,” sophomore Shaun Mansour said. “It was a great atmosphere, we had fun, and competed well, and that’s really what matters.”

Nittany Lion senior all-American blocker Max Holt finished with a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage for the second consecutive game, leading all players with 12 kills. Junior Max Lipsitz played equally well opposite Holt, also recording a perfect hitting percentage. Overall, 12 Penn State players each had at least one kill and the Lions averaged a phenomenal team attack of .673 over three games, amassing a total of 45 kills to only 6 errors.

“They’re really tall,” Rosier said. “Walking out on the court, it’s like you’re walking into a forest of redwoods.”

Ivica led all Crimson players with 12 kills, while Weissbourd put up a fight with nine kills of his own. Junior co-captain Gil Weintraub was the sole distributor, dishing out 29 assists in the losing effort.

“For a lot of players, especially for some of the guys that could’ve played in really big programs like Penn State, they took the loss really hard because it was a chance for them to showcase their game on a national venue,” Rosier said.

Coming off of a thrilling come-from-behind victory over East Stroudsburg last weekend, Harvard came out strong and appeared intent on pulling the upset after kills by Weissbourd, Ivica, and freshman Matt Jones kept Harvard matched point-for-point.

With the first game tied 7-7, hopes for an upset abruptly came to an end, as the Lions woke up from their slumber and scored 12 straight points. Penn State finished with a jaw-dropping 18 kills and only one error for a .810 team attack percentage and a service error by Jones ended the first match, 30-13.

“Their passing was very solid,” Rosier said. “Penn State played every part of the game really professionally.”

Penn State’s dominating style of play would continue in the second game. The Lions got off to a roaring start and never looked back after building an 18-4 lead.

Facing elimination in the third game, Harvard would not relent, and the club continued to cling to a 4-1 lead early on. Despite a valiant effort by the Crimson players, the Lions’ might was too much for Harvard to handle in the final game.

“We had a really hard time receiving their serves, and when you do that against a team that blocks as well as they do, it’s impossible to score points,” Baise said.

And though a loss against a top team like Penn State added one more number to the loss column, Harvard relished the experience of playing on a big stage.

“We’ve never played in gyms this big, in front of crowds this big, and against guys this big,” Rosier said. “You don’t get a chance to play a top-10 team very often.”

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.