Crimson Clinches Share of Hay Title with Win

It all started back in September.

The Harvard men’s volleyball team hadn’t participated in a playoff game since 2005, but first-year coach Brian Baise set the bar high right away, aiming his sights on the postseason.

Seven months later, despite injuries, a depleted roster, and a new coaching staff, the Crimson has reached that goal. Harvard (11-6, 6-1 Hay), relying on senior leadership and team chemistry, carried itself to a share of the EIVA Hay Title with a 3-1 (30-25, 30-32, 30-13, 30-21) victory over visiting Sacred Heart on Saturday. With just one game remaining against second-place Rutgers-Newark, the win guaranteed Harvard a spot in the playoffs.



“It feels great,” Baise said. “Our guys really wanted this game, and we’ve known that for a long time. I’m really proud of them.”

The win came at the perfect time for the Crimson, with the team recognizing seniors Jeff Nathan and co-captain Brady Weissbourd on Senior Day for their achievements during their four-year tenure.

“I hope it means a lot to the seniors, because it represents all of their accomplishments,” junior co-captain Gil Weintraub said. “These are the seniors to take us to the playoffs. They played great today.”

And while Weissbourd—who led the team with 24 kills—has received much attention for his stellar play, Baise also gave credit to Nathan for the team’s success.

“He’s a leader on this team in so many ways,” Baise said. “Fundamentally, he’s really good and really reliable. He’s exactly what you hope for in a senior.”

Harvard and Sacred Heart started off cold in the first set, trading point-for-point until a service ace by Weissbourd gave the Crimson a 13-11 lead. Riddled with service errors, both teams had trouble establishing their respective offensive game plans, and the set was highly contested until the end.

“We served really poorly the first two games,” Baise said. “No matter how hard you practice, there are always cases where you can’t replicate the pressures of live games.”

“It’s always the jitters when you played your last game a week ago,” Weintraub said. “When the other team misses serves too, it’s easy to slack off. It’s unfortunate when you return the favor, but we were able to turn it around in the third set.”

But back-to-back aces by Weissbourd seemed to be exactly what Harvard needed, putting the team up, 23-21. The rest of the team, led by junior Erik Kuld and junior co-captain Gil Weintraub, would take care of the rest, and the Crimson cruised to victory after yet another service error by the Pioneers.

Harvard continued to play sloppy volleyball in the second set after falling behind, 15-11, early. Sacred Heart would capitalize on eight Crimson service errors to squeak out a 32-30 set victory to even the game at 1-1.

In the third set, a different Harvard team stepped onto the court. After jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead, the team improved from its mediocre .273 hitting percentage in the second set to a gaudy .609 in the third.

“We talked about playing aggressively in all parts of the game,” Baise said. “Sometimes when we don’t play as well, we start to play more conservatively. It all started out with the serving, which made it easier for us to get our offense going.”

In the third set, Sacred Heart had no answer for Weissbourd, who served five straight times to give the Crimson a 13-5 lead. The 6’9 outside hitter put an exclamation mark on his storied Harvard career when his signature spike, always loaded with velocity, knocked down a Sacred Heart player to get the crowd roaring with approval. Such was the scene for a frustrated Pioneers team that committed five more errors than serves for a team attack of -.200.

One set away from a share of the league title, the Crimson remained relentless in the fourth frame. Despite getting in a 12-12 tie early on, Harvard took the lead for good after a kill to the right corner by Kuld put the team up, 22-17. A light tap by Jones to center court gave the Crimson its fifth straight win and the playoff spot Harvard had been gunning for since the beginning of the season.

“The team is an extremely hardworking, goal-oriented team,” Baise said. “That was clear in the off-season. It took us the first half of the season to start playing the way we do now.”

While the Crimson has every right to celebrate its achievements, its players and coach realize that a determined Rutgers-Newark team will do everything to prevent Harvard from clinching the title outright.

“It’s not very often that you have your destiny in your own hands,” Weintraub said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for us, and that’s exactly where we want to go into Rutgers. We’re going to train really hard for it.”

“We’ve got a big game against Rutgers and we hope to win a playoff game or two before it’s over,” Baise said. “We have some work to do.”

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