Men's Volleyball Seeks To Dethrone Penn State, Claim NCAA Berth

For the first half of the school year, there is only one thing that members of the Harvard men’s volleyball team can do: watch.

While women’s volleyball takes place in the fall, the men don’t start until the spring. This scheduling quirk creates a strange dynamic between the two programs. When one squad is playing, the other is cheering.

It was for this reason that members of the men’s team spent their fall witnessing the women’s team not just win a share of an Ivy League title, but also a first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Now, with the fall in the past, the Harvard men’s team has begun the hunt for its own unprecedented feat, namely a postseason conference title and an NCAA berth.

At 8-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play, Harvard stands at second in the EIVA. The Crimson has beaten St. Francis (then ranked No. 15 in the nation), Princeton (the only other Ivy school with a program), and George Mason (the squad that ended Harvard’s 2015 season).

But in 2016, as in every year going back to 1998, there is one opponent that outweighs all the others—Penn State.

“This is the year where we could really make a good tournament run,” captain Branden Clemens said. “I would love to have a chance to play Penn State in the EIVA championships.”

For the past 17 years, the Nittany Lions have claimed the conference title and thus the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The perennial heavyweights have won six straight against the Crimson.

This year threatens to be no different, as Penn State is undefeated in league play and ranked No. 6 in the nation. On February 12, the Crimson hosted the Nittany Lions and lost 3-0, partly thanks to a sloppy offense that posted a .179 hitting rate. Still, with a second matchup looming in early April, Harvard hopes to achieve the unusual through a combination of veteran leadership and sheer energy.

Now a senior, Clemens has shown flashes of excellence since freshman year, when he averaged 2.33 kills a set. Since then, the outside hitter has racked up 10 career double-doubles, fine-tuned a powerful jump serve, and become a focal point for the offense.

The Crimson may thrive when multiple hitters get involved, but much of the fate of the season depends on Clemens’s play. So far he is delivering at the rate of 3.84 kills per set and a .324 hitting percentage, good for fourth and second in the EIVA, respectively.

“Earlier in the season, I was making more errors than I am now,” Clemens said. “I’m happy that I’ve reduced the errors because that’ll help my hitting efficiency and in the end help my team’s performance.

Yet Clemens isn’t the only veteran power Harvard has to offer. Senior outside hitter Alec Schlossman and senior libero Alister Bent provide additional experience. Meanwhile junior outside hitter Casey White has evolved into one of the best diggers in the conference—all this maturation despite a difficult 2015 campaign in which personnel issues limited the team’s potential.

“Last year was tough,” Schlossman said. “We struggled with a lot of injuries…. It was tough to get in a groove, but this year we’ve managed to stay relatively healthy.”

In 2016 “we” also includes a crop of six underclassmen that composes the bulk of the team and represents its future.

Since early 2015, sophomore Marko Kostich has run the offense from the setter position, racking up a total of 944 assists. Sophomore outside hitter Brad Gretsch has been a frequent recipient of these passes. A consistent second option on offense, Gretsch has posted at least eight kills in every game this year.

Only two players compose the freshman class, and both are middle blockers—Trevor Dow and Spencer Scott. Dow especially has impressed in the first half of the season, surpassing a .555 hitting percentage in each of the last seven games. While Dow shares time with a capable sophomore in Riley Moore, watching the rookie’s development will be a storyline to follow throughout the year.

Despite the profusion of young talent, the program squarely belongs to the class of seniors that has played three seasons without a conference title. In 2015 the Crimson qualified for the four-team playoff before falling to George Mason in four sets—Penn State took the crown as usual.

This season, the team hopes to parlay its hot start into a historical accomplishment.

“I think this team can beat the Penn State team this year, Clemens said. “That’s a goal.”

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