Harvard Earns First Victory with Shutout

After struggling to get a win in its first nine games of the season, the Harvard men’s volleyball team (1-9, 1-1 EIVA Hay Division) finally came away with a much-needed victory after splitting two games this weekend with Stevens Institute of Technology and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Using a new lineup, which moved co-captain Gil Weintraub to the setter position, the team got the chemistry it needed to finally get a win.

“Our reasoning behind it was that all our other lineups we were working with, with our various injuries, weren’t working, so we just tried something new,” co-captain Eric Kuld said. “Gil [was] back in as setter. We moved some hitters around. The changes seemed to be working pretty well. Everyone was pretty comfortable with the team.”

HARVARD 3, NJIT 0

A kill by Weintraub sealed Harvard’s first win of the season on Saturday against NJIT at the Fleisher Athletic Center. The Crimson took an early lead on the strong performance of sophomores Matt Jones and Nicola Ivica and never looked back, defeating the Highlanders (1-11, 1-4) in straight sets.

“We had to get it, and we got it,” said Kuld about the importance of the win. “It was confidence building. We’re still 1-1 in our conference. It was a huge win. We needed it, and we got it.”

Harvard dominated statistically and led NJIT in every category from kills to team blocks.

Jones recorded 20 kills to lead the Crimson offense, and Ivica had 16 kills while making only three errors on 23 attack attempts.

Weintraub handed out 47 assists on the night, and senior middle blocker Soren Rosier had seven solo blocks to lead the team defensively.

“We have a really great and strong sophomore class,” Kuld said about the strong performance of Jones and Ivica. “It was great to have them firing on all cylinders. It was great to watch.”

Indeed, Ivica sparked Harvard by recording a kill on the first point and building up a 10-5 Crimson lead early in the first set. The Highlanders were struggling with a slew of attack problems, and Harvard took advantage of that to take the first set, 30-21. The second set looked very much like the first, with Harvard jumping out to an early lead due to its strong service game and great defense, recording eight aces and winning, 30-24.

“I think we served well,” Jones said. “One of their outside hitters couldn’t pass very well, so we served to him a lot. We did a good job targeting him, and they were out of sync a lot.”

While the third set was close at first, Harvard went on a 6-0 run to build an insurmountable lead, and Weintraub’s kill gave the Crimson a much-needed victory.

“We kind of found our identity now,” said Jones about the team’s performance. “Playing the way [we are] is definitely a spark for the rest of the season. This is definitely the first of what I think will be many more wins.”

SIT 3, HARVARD 1

Despite a glimmer of hope in the third set, the Harvard men’s volleyball team fell to Stevens Institute of Technology, 3-1 (31-29, 30-27, 23-30, 30-23), at Canavan Arena on Friday.

The Crimson committed several key service errors in the fourth set that sealed the match for the Ducks (13-8, 4-2 NECVA Metro Division).

“It was a game we could’ve won, should’ve won,” Kuld said. “If we were able to play [Friday night] over again, we would’ve definitely won.”

Ivica and Jones again led the offense with 17 and 15 kills, respectively, and Weintraub handed out 44 assists on the night. Harvard also held an 8-7 advantage in team blocks, with freshman Paul Glootz recording two solo blocks.

But the real story of this game was the Crimson’s new lineup, which used the contest as a valuable experience in team building.

“We’re trying a new lineup,” Weintraub said, “[and] I thought we showed a lot of moments of brilliance.”

Harvard made a run in the first set and led SIT, 29-28, before giving up a run on the last three points to drop the set. The second set was close as well with the score tied at 25-25, before the Ducks outscored the Crimson, 5-3, to take the set. After taking the third set, Harvard could not stop SIT’s 8-3 run, which clinched the set as well as the game for the Ducks.

“We were in control of the game for a good portion of it,” Jones said. “It was just giving up those runs. The biggest part of volleyball is minimizing runs, because every team is going to make their run.”