Weekend Wins Vault Women's Volleyball into Second

The Harvard women’s volleyball team came back after dropping both contests last weekend with a sweep at home at the Malkin Athletic Center. After having lost two Ivy League games last week against Brown and Yale, this weekend’s sweep sent the team to second place in the Ancient Eight.

The Crimson (8-6, 3-2 Ivy) defeated Columbia (4-10, 2-3 Ivy) in three straight sets and Cornell (5-9, 2-3 Ivy) in four.

“We had a great week in practice, we really stepped it up to prepare for this week’s games,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said.

HARVARD 3, COLUMBIA 0

The Harvard squad entered Saturday’s match against the Lions coming off a strong week of practice and a win Friday.

“I’m really proud of us because we worked really hard this week after coming off of two losses last weekend,” freshman Corinne Bain said. “Our practices were very high intensity so coming off this week I had the confidence that we worked to prove ourselves.”

The Crimson tallied multiple season records during the Columbia game. Bain had three service aces that put her fifth on the Harvard single season list. Junior co-captain Kristen Casey added to her season record with 21 digs, and junior middle blocker Caroline Walters had another 11-kill day.

“I think we felt good about this weekend,” Casey said. “We wanted to win in dominating style and I think that’s what we did by handling it in four [Friday] and three [Saturday].”

The Crimson had a dominant first set, winning 25-16. While the next set had Harvard trailing as Columbia took control with a winning streak, the Crimson rallied and fought back to win the second set, 25-21.

The Harvard squad refocused its momentum in the team huddles during the game.

“We got down in the second game and Columbia had a run,” said Casey. “I think we are getting so much better at staying calm in those moments and staying confident and getting our own run.”

The Lions could not psych the Crimson out as Harvard tallied 47 kills to Columbia’s 29.

“Our game plan is to always think about us and not to worry about what the other team is doing,” Weiss said. “Once we did that we play so much better as a team.”

HARVARD 3, CORNELL 1

Friday night, Harvard tallied its third consecutive win against Cornell.

Harvard dominated the match in the first set, 25-18, but the Big Red pushed back during the second and third sets and pushed the match to four sets.

“The second and third sets were definitely difficult,” freshman outside hitter Grace Weghorst said. “But really when you’re playing, you either win a game or you lose and you play another one. Winning in four is awesome but if we have to win in five we keep going.”

After a 25-23 loss in the third set, Harvard gathered itself to come back strong in the fourth set, winning, 25-16.

“I told them to focus on just what we had been practicing all week,” Weiss said. “We needed to maintain our chemistry and take their best attacker and slow her down.”

Weghorst had her first double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs. Bain almost garnered another triple-double with nine kills, 26 assists, and 12 digs. These two freshmen have contributed to the team success.

“There’s been almost no adjustment period,” co-captain Natalie Doyle said. “Grace and Corinne are doing a great job starting and contributing what they can to every game.”

Harvard managed a .224 hitting percentage with Cornell trailing at .154. Casey and Doyle contributed a total of 26 digs, while Walters, sophomore middle blocker Caroline Holte, and senior right side hitter Erin Cooney had an evenly distributed 12 blocks throughout the game.

“I think our blocking was really strong,” Bain said. “When you can get a stuff block it changes the momentum of the game.”

The Harvard squad also tallied a total of 70 digs compared to the Big Red’s 53.

“We definitely worked on hustle this weekend,” Weghorst said. “We had a bit of trouble getting to some balls last weekend so we were focusing on a lot of defense and a lot of blocking.”

The victory against Cornell set Harvard up for an improved Ivy League ranking, and after this weekend the Crimson found itself ranked second.

“As a team we’re always trying to challenge each other to get better every match,” Doyle said. “I think we have the best team that Harvard volleyball has had in years and we’re really just trying to maximize our potential and have no regrets.”