Harvard Sends Off Seniors With Victory in Season Finale

After a somewhat slow start to the weekend, by dropping a 3-0 decision to Yale on Friday, the Harvard women’s volleyball team (12-12, 5-9 Ivy) never looked back once it got on the board Saturday night. The Crimson ended its season strongly with a win 3-1 win over Brown (6-19, 2-12) on Harvard’s Senior Night.

“It was our last game playing together as one team,” said co-captain and libero Christine Wu. “We just wanted to go all out, end our season on a good note, and have absolutely no regrets.”

After losing the first set, the Crimson rallied to win three consecutive sets against the Bears and take the match. The win gave the Harvard team a solid .500 record for the season overall and lifted the Crimson to 5-9 in Ivy League play.

“I thought it was an awesome performance and such a great way to end our season,” said fellow co-captain Sandra Lynne Fryhofer. “All of the girls came together, and I think this was the best volleyball we have played this season.

Brown came out strongly in the opening set. Trailing the Bears, 21-11, Harvard called a timeout and won the next five points, but the 10-point deficit was simply too large to make up.

“We had a little bit of a slow start, and Brown was playing very aggressively,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said. “We seemed a bit hesitant. Sometimes, it just takes a little longer to get your rhythm going. But we did a great job of getting ourselves into system and shifting a couple of things around.”

The second set proved to be a more even matchup. The score remained close throughout, with crucial ties at 22 and 24 points.

The Crimson offense kicked into gear, taking three of the next four points to earn the set, 27-25. After leveling the score at one game each, Harvard dominated the rest of the night. The Crimson took the final two sets, 25-16, 25-19.

“We wanted to work on getting into our offensive and defensive systems,” said Weiss of the team’s mission heading into the second set. “We really needed to rely on each other and start trusting each other. [Junior setter] Beth Kinsella did a really nice job of starting to get the hitters one-on-one and setting the ball to move Brown’s defense.”

Junior outside hitter Taylor Docter was also a standout player, recording a double-double with 15 kills and 16 digs during the game, while sophomore Natalie Doyle and Wu led the defense with 24 kills apiece, bringing the senior to 523 on the season. Fryhofer contributed at the net with seven blocks and eight kills of her own.

“Our seniors were great,” Weiss said. “This is how Wu plays defense; she’s played that way since the day she got here. It was a great way for them to end.”

After a tough loss to the Bulldogs the previous night, in which Yale clinched the Ivy League championship, the Crimson was focused on playing the game to the best of its abilities to close out the season.

“Yale is a good team,” Wu said. “Coming into today, we just really wanted to focus on our system and playing the best we can. Every ball you touch could be your last for the season. We wanted to play Harvard volleyball, play for each other, and play together.”

Before the start of the game, the Harvard team held a ceremony honoring its two seniors, Fryhofer and Wu. In her career on the team, Fryhofer has recorded over 700 kills and 250 blocks. Wu currently holds the Harvard record for most career digs and ranks second all-time in the Ivy League.

“It was our last game, and we wanted to make it count,” Fryhofer said. “We knew it was the last time all 14 girls, this team, would be together. I think we really played with our hearts. When you play with desire, that is when you are at your peak.”