Men's Volleyball Rallies at Laval For First Win of Season

The No. 13 Harvard men’s volleyball team was a little out of place in French-speaking Canada this Wednesday. But the squad’s performance was in no way hindered by the language barrier.

Trailing by one entering the fourth set, the Crimson rallied to win the last two sets and take down Laval University, 3-2, in Quebec City, marking the program’s first-ever win in Canada and first victory of the season.

With 25 points not enough to settle the fourth set, the two teams played extra in order to resolve what ended up being the penultimate match. The Rouge et Or was unable to knock off Harvard, which managed to win the set, 27-25. The Crimson carried that momentum into the final set, recording eight kills and only one error in a 15-12 victory.

Junior outside hitter DJ White led the Harvard attack with 21 kills over five sets. Junior middle blocker Caleb Zimmick and senior outside hitter Nick Madden complemented the Crimson offense with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

Despite playing one more set in than in its recent loss to Long Beach State, Harvard recorded three fewer errors and had a kill percentage of .386, a stark contrast from the .250 mark set in its season opener.

The Crimson came out of the gates slowly as the team adjusted to using the Canadian volleyball, a different model than the one used in American Division I athletics.

“It comes off of [the opponents’] hands differently,” Zimmick said. “It moves a lot more than the ball we play with.”

Harvard had trouble passing float serves in the early stages of the game. However, with enough repetitions, the Crimson acclimated to the change and was able to solve the puzzle.

“I think we really turned it around,” Zimmick said. “After the first couple of sets, we got the hang of playing … with a different ball and really stepped it up towards the end of the match.”

One of the reasons for the offensive turnaround was freshman setter Nick Bendell, who chipped in provided 53 assists.

“He’s really doing well,” Zimmick said. “He’s connecting with [senior middle blocker Kyle Rehkemper] and I really well in the middle so far.”

Bendell’s success comes despite his inexperience, and the Illinois native has made a quick adjustment to the collegiate level.

“There’s usually a lot of pressure that comes with being a freshman setter,” Bendell said. “But the guys on the team and the coaches really support me and give me good feedback.”

As action progressed, the Crimson offense became more fluid and by extension more dangerous as the team closed out the match by winning the two final sets.

“I think in the beginning we were struggling with our passing,” Zimmick said. “It was just really tough to get kills. We started to improve our passing and then the offense worked really well.”

The Laval offense needed no time to adjust to the volleyball, winning the first set, 25-21. Attacker Olivier Jannini provided a game-high 28 kills in a losing effort. Setter Marc-Andre Morency added 70 assists, but it was not enough to take down the visiting opponent.

Harvard’s defense was able to stay strong long enough to hold off the Laval attack. Madden and senior libero Chris Gibbons led the defensive effort with 11 digs apiece, with three others each adding at least seven.

Last time out, the Crimson fell behind after the third set and was unable to rally against No. 4 Long Beach State in the Asics Invitational final. On Wednesday, however, Harvard was able to fight back and secure its first victory of the season against its Canadian opponent.

“We came out pretty slow at the beginning,” Bendell said. “Towards the end of the match we started to pick up our play. Coach [Brian Baise] said that he was very pleased with ... [how] we never gave up.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurtbullard@college.harvard.edu.