High Energy Propels Men's Volleyball

The Harvard men’s volleyball team is off the bench.

Donning crimson libero jerseys or normal white shirts, clutching half-filled water bottles or nothing at all, team members stand in a rough line, clapping and hooting above each other’s shoulders. The atmosphere signals pressure and importance—that this lively moment is the one that will determine the outcome.

But there’s a slight problem—it’s only the first point of the match.

For a sport that requires only five players a side, involves no violent collisions, and often takes place in converted basketball gyms, men’s volleyball sure knows how to fill a court with noise.

The game action is relatively quiet—aside from thwacks and orderly whistles, it’s easy enough to hold a conversation with a seatmate.

But the torrent of shouts, smacked hands, and sideline roars begins when the points end. Then on the bench, players high five and shout encouragement. On the court, anything goes.

“As far as the celebration stuff, it just comes out naturally,” senior outside hitter Alec Schlossman said. “We’re excited to be playing together.”

This culture of excitement is not unique to the Crimson. Indeed the tradition of bench members not actually using the bench is common to most levels of volleyball, from high school teams to national programs.

The same goes for on-court interactions, and half of the thrill of watching volleyball is witnessing the ritualized congratulations that players exchange after points.

Yet this year’s Harvard squad takes special pride in staying active. At a minimum, there is the vocabulary—one of the most frequent descriptions of the team is “high-energy.”

“As I’ve been talking about all season, we’re a high-energy team,” captain Branden Clemens said. “We’re able to stay crisp and clean and execute well. Having that combination with the high energy is pretty tough to beat.”

After every point, win or lose, the players on the court circle in the center. They slap hands, pat backs, and exchange brief words before returning to their positions.

Part of the energy is a function of the team’s size. At 11 players, the men’s volleyball program is one of the smaller teams on campus, and according to Clemens, this affects community.

“We’re genuinely happy to see ourselves do well and see our hard work manifest itself in good play,” Clemens said. “There’s such a passion and desire to win that you kind of feel it.”

The acoustics of volleyball games amplifies these emotions. Unlike other spring sports, volleyball takes place in a gymnasium, which captures every kind of noise. This is why it’s almost always possible to know that the Crimson is playing a match by standing outside the Malkin Athletic Center and turning an ear to the sky.

On the court, the energy of the Harvard team sometimes goes nuclear during especially heart-pounding junctures. In these cases, everyone has his own strategy.

Clemens typically crouches down—which shaves a few inches off his 6’6” height—and pops his eyes wide open. It’s a wild look, and over the past four seasons, it’s become synonymous with key point victories.

Sophomore Marko Kostich may be the most excited of the bunch. As a setter, he needs to stay vocal to organize the offense, and he remains this way afterwards, shouting encouragement to teammates or just simply shouting.

“Point won or lost, he’s always yelling,” Schlossman said. “He’s very high-energy—it’s great.”

Per Schlossman, the team never plans any celebrations; whatever you see on the court is something players thought of an instant before.

However, during film sessions, Crimson players like to point out especially strange reactions on either side of the net.

Junior outside hitter Casey White is another player with noticeable excitement. Like Kostich, he stays loud throughout the match and specializes in the chest bump.

“He’s one of the people who loves to do big celebrations,” Clemens said. “[He and Marko] are both really good leaders on the court without even having a leadership position. I’m really happy with that.”

So far in 2016, high energy has led to early wins, as Harvard has climbed to second place in the EIVA. Even in defeat, Harvard has pushed opponents to the limit, as half the team’s losses have come in five sets.

Some might read this statistic as evidence of grittiness, but others might read it the way Clemens does—that this year’s Crimson is a strange case of celebration causing success, not the other way around.

“The energy is not just being hyper, but it’s also a constant energy,” Clemens said. “It’s believing in yourself while also being hyped up.”

I feel like it manifests itself in our ability to come back from tough situations,” he added. “Every time we get on the court, we’re genuinely excited to play.”

–Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.