Women's Volleyball Looks To Break Losing Streak

Even though the Harvard women’s volleyball team is on a four game losing streak, it has a chance to turn things around as it travels to New Hampshire (6-8) on Tuesday night.

The Crimson (2-7) is coming off a rough weekend at the New England Challenge tournament, losing all three matches without winning a set.

The Wildcats will be the last team before Harvard faces Dartmouth in its Ivy League opener on Friday night.

“We had a tough weekend this weekend playing some good teams from the Boston area,” said sophomore outside hitter Kristen Casey, who ranks first on the team with 99 digs. “But hopefully we can just have a broad time horizon and realize that all these tough matches are going to help us later on when we’re playing in our own league.”

Despite the disappointing start, the Crimson stays positive in light of its situation.

“[Losing has] been tough, but it’s bringing us closer together and helping us to come to rely on each other,” freshman outside hitter Kathleen Wallace said. “We’ve created new ideas to think about what we need to do next, so I think it’s also a bonding opportunity for our team.”

Since the weekend, Harvard has been focusing on improving what broke down in the tournament, including how to build momentum after being down in a game.

The Crimson has also worked on running conditioning plays in an effort to outpace its opponents.

But Harvard hopes to fix its problems starting from the first whistle.

“We need to focus on having strong starts and coming out with a lot of energy and motivation so that we can get an early jump on our opponents and help us build momentum throughout the game,” Wallace said.

New Hampshire also returned from the road this past weekend with more losses than wins. The Wildcats sole victory of the weekend was a tight, 3-2, match, against Princeton.

The Crimson has beaten the Wildcats in each of the last four seasons. Last year Harvard outlasted the Wildcats in a close match, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 15-12.

“It was a really tough five-game match, so hopefully we can win again this year,” Casey said. “I know they have some big outside hitters.”

One of the dominant players for New Hampshire is junior co-captain right side Morgan Thatcher, who has a team-high 183 kills, 3.27 per set.

Not far behind Thatcher is freshman outside hitter Tori Forrest and junior right side Destiny Tolliver, who are second (130) and third (129) in kills for the Wildcats’ squad, respectively.

For the Crimson, captain outside hitter Taylor Docter is not only the team leader for moral, but she also leads the team with 77 kills.

“Taylor gets the most sets on our team, and she’s been such a rock for us,” Casey said. “She’s a great captain.”

Wallace has been a key player for Harvard, recording 74 kills and a hitting percentage of .281.

“[Wallace has] been such a good addition to us this year because she’s a super athletic kid who can hit the ball really hard; but, she’s also a great teammate, super humble, and has filled a very prominent role on our team,” Casey said. “We are leaning on her a lot right now. I’ve been really impressed with Kathleen so far—I think the whole team has.”

Junior right side Erin Cooney has also stepped up for the squad, adding 21 kills last weekend for Harvard.

“Erin had a really good weekend last weekend,” Casey said. “She really led us offensively, along with Kathleen Wallace.”

Junior middle blocker Teresa Skelly, who was an integral part of the Crimson’s line up against the Wildcats last year, has been out after she injured her ankle on Saturday, and she will likely sit out Tuesday night’s game as well.

Northeastern is the only team the Crimson and New Hampshire have played in common so far this season, and both teams fell to the Huskies, 3-0.

“We are rooting for each other and trying to stay positive,” Casey said. “We have good senior leadership, and we all get along so well…. We just want to get back out there.”