Harvard Women's Volleyball Goes 1-1 Against Killer P's

It was a weekend of ups and downs for the Harvard women’s volleyball team (11-9, 4-6 Ivy), which earned a 3-1 victory over Penn (7-13, 3-7 Ivy) Friday night only to drop a 3-1 match against Princeton (15-7, 8-2 Ivy) on Saturday. Junior Taylor Docter had back-to-back stand-out performances, notching a career-high 18 kills and 15 digs on Friday and 14 kills, eight digs, and two blocks on Saturday.

PRINCETON 3, HARVARD 1

Coming off of a win over the Quakers the previous night, the Crimson looked to continue its weekend success. Its efforts fell short however, and Harvard was unable to overcome the Tiger’s offensive momentum, falling 25-23, 25-13, 17-25, and 25-16. Despite opening the match with a 3-0 lead in the first game, the Crimson could not hold onto its edge, giving up the lead at 15-14 to Princeton. The Tigers fought back to win the first set, but was able to take the second handily, following an early 9-3 jump ahead.

Harvard finally found success in the third game, garnering a 12-6 lead, from an ace from junior Beth Kinsella–back on the court after injury–and a block from sophomores Erin Cooney and Teresa Skelly. Co-captain Sandra Lynne Fryhofer furthered the advantage, contributing a solo block and two aces that ended the set.

The momentum, however, went back to Princeton in the fourth and final set, allowing the Tigers to earn a 25-16 game win and 3-1 match victory.

HARVARD 3, PENN 1

The Crimson used its defensive prowess on Friday night to earn a win over league rival Penn. Co-captain Christine Wu spurred the team with her match-high 25 digs. Harvard defeated the Quakers 25-10, 26-24, 25-22, and 25-20—a tally that would be familiar in its match on Saturday.

The first two sets were dominated by the Crimson, whose only hiccup came late in the second frame when it had to fight for a 26-24 win, earned by a Doctor kill and Wu service ace. The third game saw a Penn comeback that resulted in its first set win, but Harvard took the control back to close the match in the fourth frame, with a 25-20 victory.

Though the weekend ended with a loss for the Crimson, the performances by Docter and Wu were stellar. The senior now has tallied 1,752 digs in her career and is only one dig shy of matching the record for third place in the Ivy League.

“We came out with a lot of energy ... against Penn and played so well as a team,” Wu said. “But in our match against Princeton we just lost that momentum ... and made too many errors at the wrong times."