Women's Volleyball Heads Out West

It will be a homecoming weekend for eight of the 15 members of the Harvard women’s volleyball team as the Crimson squad (2-0) heads west to the Holiday Inn Mission Valley Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. this weekend.

Harvard will face San Diego State (3-3), the tournament’s host, on Friday night, and then play Southern Methodist University (5-2) and San Francisco (1-5) on Saturday.  This weekend’s tournament is the first time the team has taken a West Coast road trip since 2006.

All three opponents enter the tournament with at least six games each under their belts, in comparison to the two matches the Crimson have played this season. Despite a lack of playing experience this season, Harvard has already taken command of the court with a new offensive system.

“We’re really excited about the tournament because first, a lot of us are from California so it’s fun to go back home, and second, because we get to play teams that are from the West Coast,” said sophomore middle blocker Caroline Holte. “A lot of times, West Coast volleyball is just a little more competitive since it’s more of a West Coast sport.”

The Crimson arrives in San Diego with two come-from-behind wins against Holy Cross and Hofstra last weekend, as well as a record-setting game from Holte and Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for freshman setter Corinne Bain in her collegiate debut. Harvard dropped both first sets to their opponents and was pushed to four games against Hofstra and five in a nail-biter over Holy Cross.

Bain provided a team high 59 assists over the weekend, while sophomore Hannah Schmidt provided relief at the net with 30 through the two matches. Consistent setting was a component of Harvard taking the pair of twins.

“We’re looking to build off our two wins last weekend as we go up against some tougher competition in San Diego,” said sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Shults. “We’ve focused a lot this preseason on staying disciplined at the net.”

Shults, along with Holte and junior middle blocker Caroline Walters, have also provided their own intensity at the net. The three are powerful blockers, with Holte having had a career-high 12 blocks against Hofstra last Saturday. The Crimson ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in blocks per set, with 3.78.

Bain has also been a power on offense, with 18 kills, second to sophomore outside hitter Kathleen Wallace and her 20 kills.

Co-captain Natalie Doyle has taken the reins defensively, starting at setter. Doyle tallied 40 digs during the opening weekend. Junior co-captain and outside hitter Kristen Casey comes second, with 26 digs. The pair will be important against the hard-hitting trio of teams the Crimson will face.

“I think it will be fun to play against these teams that we’re approaching this weekend because they’re going to come at us with a quicker offense for us to adjust to,” Holte said. “We’re a scrappy team in the back row and we don’t let balls drop.”

SMU poses the strongest record of the three teams, having dropped just one of 10 sets at their home tournament last weekend. Their seven players at attack all have a hitting percentage above .200, with four of those seven near .300.

Likewise, SDSU poses an offensive threat. While the team doesn’t possess the consistent hitting percentage of the Mustangs, the squad’s top two hitters, senior outside hitters Summer Nash and Raegan Shelton, both average over three kills per set. Nash hits nearly four kills per sets.

San Francisco’s top hitters, Marina Terrell, Valentina Zaloznik, and Anja Segota, respectively, average 3.64, 2.80 and 2.44 kills per set. The team opened its season with five straight losses, but notched its first win, a 3-0 sweep of Air Force, this past weekend.

The team will face four more non-conference opponents after this weekend. The Crimson opens its Ancient Eight slate on September 27 against Dartmouth at home.

“I think our strength comes from our endurance and that’s going to help us in the Ivies,” Holte said. “I think that frustrates the other teams. We’re ready to win that Ivy title and we know we can do it.”

—Staff writer Cordelia Mendez can be reached at cordelia.mendez@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter@CrimsonCordelia.