Crimson Picks up First Road Win in Split

The Harvard men’s volleyball team met defeat and victory this weekend with a loss at Princeton and a win at East Stroudsburg. The team, which has struggled on the road, gained its first road win of the season with the 3-0 victory over East Stroudsburg (4-7, 1-4 Hay). In the 3-0 loss to Princeton (7-7), the team showed that it still has areas to improve on.

“We’re really happy with that win,” co-captain Brady Weissbourd said. “We desperately needed a road win, and everything just came together, but now we’re looking for another before the season ends.”

Freshman Matt Jones had a standout weekend, leading all players with 15 kills on a .360 attack percentage, along with five blocks and four digs in the Princeton matchup. Weissbourd turned in another outstanding performance, posting 19 kills with a .586 hitting percentage in the East Stroudsburg game.

PRINCETON 3, HARVARD 0

Harvard (7-6, 3-1 Hay) came out the locker room aggressively, jumping to a 6-3 lead. Princeton was able to mount a comeback to tie it up at 9-9. The Tigers then took control of the game, posting five-straight points to make it 14-9.

Harvard trailed the Tigers for the rest of the stanza, but consecutive kills brought the Crimson within two at 19-17. The Tigers were able to hold on to the set, winning it 30-22.

“We trailed them for most of the match, but we were always close,” junior Soren Rosier said. “Each set really came down to a couple of breakaway points.”

Princeton opened up the second set with a 7-2 lead. The Tigers took advantage of Crimson errors to bring the lead to eight at 16-8.

Harvard began a four-point comeback, with a service ace from junior Erik Kuld to make it 16-12.

The Tigers then posted three more points, but the Crimson scored the next nine points to take the lead at 21-19. Control of the advantage then went back and forth for the next 11 serves until the Tigers posted two kills to take the stanza, 33-31.

“They really closed out every set,” Weissbourd said. “We would open strong, but they pulled away at the end of every set.”

Princeton started the third set with a 3-1 lead before a kill from Kuld tied it up at 3-3.

The Tigers extended their lead to 13-9, as Harvard trailed close behind. Jones posted a kill and a block to pull Harvard within two.

The Tigers took five of the next six points to make it 19-13. Princeton then pulled away to take the set and the match, 30-20.

HARVARD 3, EAST STROUDSBURG 0

The Crimson came into East Stroudsburg eager for a road win. Harvard held the Warriors to a .150 attack percentage in the first set to take it, 30-26.

Harvard won the second set, 30-26, in similar fashion by holding the East Stroudsburg offense to a .212 attack percentage.

In the third set, The Crimson tallied 17 kills with only one error for a .571 attack percentage, finishing the frame ahead 30-23. Harvard hit .390 for the match, compared to .181 for the Warriors.

“We really needed the win to redeem ourselves,” Weissbourd said. “I think we were more focused because we all wanted to finally get a win on the road.”

Harvard faces MIT Tuesday at the Malkin Athletic Center, marking its second-to-last home game of the regular season.

—Staff writer Evan Kendall can be reached at kendall@fas.harvard.edu.