Back East, Men's Volleyball Keeps Winning

The Harvard men’s volleyball team may have been playing on a new coast, but the Crimson didn’t miss a beat. Returning to the East after a three-game West-Coast trip, the Crimson continued its winning ways, dropping conference rival Sacred Heart in a 3-1 victory at the Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn., on Saturday.

Harvard (14-3, 6-2 EIVA), which defeated the Pioneers (4-17, 1-9 EIVA) in straight sets on Feb. 25, found itself even with Sacred Heart after two games. But the Crimson closed out the final two sets to claim the win.

“It was our first game since playing in California, and we had been playing well since then, so we had high expectations,” sophomore outside hitter Nick Madden said. “We came out flat and dropped a game, but we turned it around and found a way to win.”

Harvard started hot, storming out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set and prompting the Pioneers to call a timeout.

And though a kill from co-captain Matt Jones gave the Crimson the first point out of the timeout, Sacred Heart clawed back into the game, bringing the score to 9-7.

The teams traded runs for the rest of the set, but Harvard maintained a small cushion throughout, taking the set, 25-22.

The second set began with the two teams tightly matched. But after several Crimson errors and strong offensive play from the Pioneers, Sacred Heart jumped out to a 16-12 lead, prompting Harvard coach Brian Baise to call a timeout.

Coming out of the break, the Crimson could not find a way back into the set, as the Pioneers marched on to a 25-16 win to tie the match.

“They were serving well and our passing was definitely struggling a little bit,” sophomore libero Chris Gibbons said. “We did make quite a few uncharacteristic hitting errors. But luckily we were able to turn it around, focus in on passing, and control that side of the ball better. Then our hitters got back into rhythm after having a few slip-ups.”

The third set was close throughout, with the conference foes battling for control of the game.

Jones, who notched five of his 12 kills in the third set, led Harvard on the offensive side. The co-captain was supported by freshman outside hitter DJ White, who added four kills of his own in the third frame.

Defensively, Gibbons marshaled the team, as the sophomore’s 17 digs on the day maintained possession for the Crimson at crucial moments.

“[Gibbons] played out of his mind,” Madden said. “But our blocking wasn’t very good, so defensively it kind of averaged out.”

“Defensively, Coach always does a good job of scouting out the other team and seeing where their tendencies are in terms of hitting,” Gibbons said. “Basically, it’s all about being able to execute that game plan.”

With Harvard holding a slight lead at 19-18, Sacred Heart called a timeout to regroup for the set’s final points. But out of the timeout, the Crimson was able to edge its way to a narrow 25-22 win.

The fourth set started much the same way, with the teams trading points until Harvard launched a 7-1 run to grab a commanding 21-15 lead. The Pioneers took two timeouts in hopes of detracting from the Crimson’s momentum, but Harvard was able to hold out for the 25-18 victory.

The win gives the Crimson momentum going into the final stretch of its season. Sitting in second place in the EIVA standings with a game advantage on St. Francis, Harvard will face only conference opponents for the rest of the regular season.

“The mindset right now is an aggressive one,” Gibbons said. “We can’t slip up, and we’re gunning for [first-place] Penn State next time we come across them. They’re a good team, but we’ve been playing well, and I think we can surprise them.”

The Crimson returns to the Malkin Athletic Center next weekend for the team’s last home games of the season against New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers.

Saturday’s game against NJIT will serve as the team’s senior night, where co-captains Jones and Dan Schreff will be honored.

—Staff writer Peter G. Cornick can be reached at pcornick@college.harvard.edu.