M. Volleyball Can’t Find Rhythm To Open Season

The season-opening three-game home stand failed to yield a win for the Harvard men’s volleyball team, as it dropped 3-2 decisions to Newbury and Queens before falling 3-1 to Rivier last night at the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC).

While the attack percentage and the blocking wasn’t up to midseason form, it almost didn’t matter, as the Crimson was still in prime position to take each contest but couldn’t get the job done.

The Crimson will look to claim its first win of the season on the road this Sunday at Vassar.

“We’ve got to prepare ourselves a little bit better [for Vassar],” Harvard coach Chris Ridolfi said. “We’ll go back to work and do the best we can to get ready for them.”

RIVIER 3, HARVARD 1

For the third time in as many matches, Harvard just couldn’t get the bounces it needed as it fell 3-1 (27-30, 33-31, 30-26, 31-29) to Rivier last night at the MAC.

Trailing 28-26 in the fourth frame, the Crimson got a clutch kill from senior outside hitter Abe Marouf and an unforced error by the Raiders to pull even at 28. But a Harvard net violation and two kills by Rivier outside hitter Mike Buccarelli allowed the Raiders to sneak away with the 31-29 game four win.

“We’ve got to clean up the blocking a bit,” said Ridolfi of the eight net violations on the evening.

The Crimson never led in game three, as Rivier jumped out to a 12-9 lead early and increased the advantage to four, 22-18, later in the frame. The Raiders proceeded to run off five of the next seven points to grab a seven-point lead. But Harvard pulled within two on two kills and a block by Marouf. Rivier would get a timely kill from middle hitter Andrew Chace and benefit from a Crimson unforced error to claim the 30-26 victory.

Harvard rebounded from a 26-22 deficit in the second frame by taking seven of the next nine points and gave itself a chance to serve for the game two win at 29-28. But Raiders outside hitter Zack Stedman registered three kills and Harvard surrendered another costly net violation as Rivier evened the match at a game a piece.

“We’ve played good first games in our previous two matches, and we’ve played poor second games,” Ridolfi said. “So, our goal was to play a good second game, but we got stalled in the middle of it.”

“Pushing them to 33 and not losing at 30 was a small victory for us,” he added.

The Crimson found itself in a 17-15 hole in the first frame, but took five of the next six points and never looked back, matching the Raiders kill-for-kill down the stretch to hold on for the 30-27 win.

QUEENS 3, HARVARD 2

The EIVA opener went much the same way as the Crimson’s season opener, as Queens (4-1, 1-0) held on for a 3-2 win (21-30, 30-17, 30-27, 23-30, 16-14) at the MAC Sunday afternoon.

Marouf led Harvard with a 21 kills and 11 digs for his second double-double in as many games.

Junior middle hitter John Freese and outside hitter Seamus McKiernan added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while senior outside hitter chipped in with 10 digs.

The Crimson registered a .314 attack percentage in the fourth game, as the squad charged back to force a fifth and deciding game.

The Knights did just enough in the fifth game to pull out the victory, edging Harvard 10 kills to nine and handing the Crimson its second two-point final frame defeat in as many contests.

Harvard stymied the Queens offense in game one, as the Knights recorded a negative hitting percentage in the 30-23 loss. But Queens caught fire in the second and third frames, registering a combined .471 attack percentage to claim a 2-1 lead in the match.

NEWBURY 3, HARVARD 2

Just 11 points away from giving Ridolfi a win in his first game at the reins of the Harvard program, the wheels began to fall off the wagon.

Newbury (4-0) ran off nine straight points and 15 of 18 to force a decisive fifth game and took that as well en route to a 3-2 victory (30-25, 27-30, 30-26, 22-30, 13-15) over Harvard at the MAC Thursday night.

“We made too many mistakes,” Ridolfi said. “The run was mostly our mistakes. I don’t think we were tired, I just don’t think we handled the pressure of a match very well coming directly out of exam period.”

With the Crimson leading 5-3 in the third game, sophomore setter Dave Fitz had to leave the game after hitting the ground awkwardly. Freshman setter Jordan Weitzen came on in relief and contributed 20 assists, a kill and a block.

“The setters get equal touches in practice, so we were prepared,” Ridolfi said. “Jordan did a solid job for us.”

“Jordan went out there and did well,” Freese added. “I was impressed by the way he played.”

The Nighthawks trailed the entire game but clawed back to forge a tie at 25. Harvard took five of the next six point to close out the third frame with a 30-26 win.

At 27-all in the second game, Newbury recorded two kills and took advantage of a Crimson unforced error to close out the 30-27 win and bring the match even at one.

Harvard stumbled out of the gate in the first frame as the Nighthawks took eight of the first 12 points, but the Crimson clawed back to knot the game at 18. A 7-1 run catapulted Harvard to a 30-25 win in the opening game.

The Crimson recorded a dismal .153 hitting percentage on the contest, including a .060 performance in the game four loss.

“We have a new coach and while the offense isn’t difficult, it’s still a little new and we’re getting used to it,” Freese said.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.