Crimson Battles Back at Princeton, Ends Losing Streak

The Harvard men’s volleyball team had won just twice in its last 12 contests heading into this past weekend. The woes continued last Friday, when the Crimson (8-11, 0-5 EIVA Hay) was dropped by Sacred Heart (10-8, 4-2), 3-1.

But after dropping the first two sets to Princeton—putting it on the verge of losing yet another contest—the Harvard men’s volleyball team won the match’s final three games to pull out a 3-2 victory Saturday.

The win over the Tigers (3-15, 1-8 EIVA Tait) helped the Crimson earn its first road win of the season while snapping a six-game losing streak.

“[This victory] means a lot to us,” junior co-captain Matt Jones said. “This is our first road victory of the season, and that means a lot, since we are a young team.”

HARVARD 3, PRINCETON 2

Jones and freshman Kyle Rehkemper played a key role in Harvard’s victory at Dillon Gym in Princeton, N.J., leading their squad with 14 and 13 kills, respectively.

In the first set, neither team could grab the advantage until a kill by Princeton freshman Jeff Stapleton started a 4-0 run to give the home team a 17-11 lead.

The Crimson cut the score to 23-19, but Princeton recovered though and closed out the first set, 25-19.

Late in the second set, a Harvard service error gave Princeton a 24-19 advantage and put the Crimson on the edge of a 2-0 game hole. A kill by sophomore Michael Dye gave the Tigers a commanding two-set lead.

“We came out a little flat the first couple of games,” Jones said. “As the game progressed, we started competing harder, and most importantly, we shifted our [defense] and started picking up a lot more of their off-speed shots.”

The Crimson came out strong in the third set and held onto the lead until Princeton’s 5-1 run gave the home team an 11-8 lead. When Tigers junior Scott Liljestrom tallied a kill, Princeton had a comfortable 21-17 and needed only four points for a clean sweep of the visitors.

But the Crimson wouldn’t give in.

Jones and Rehkemper each recorded one kill en route to a 7-1 run that gave the visitors the pivotal third set.

“We battled back ... after dropping the first two [games],” Rehkemper said. “We had a couple of good overhand serves and some nice blocks. We really finished that [third] game, whereas we couldn’t finish out the first two. We just took [the set win] and rode it out the rest of the match.”

Neither team could pull ahead in the fourth set, until a 3-0 Harvard run gave the Crimson a 19-18 lead; later, a 5-1 run helped Harvard pull out the set and tie the match at 2-2.

In the deciding fifth set, the visitors made sure it wasn’t even close. The Crimson jumped out to a 12-3 lead, capped off by three consecutive serving aces.

The lead proved to be too much, and a kill ended the set, 15-6, and the match.

SACRED HEART 3, HARVARD 1

Traveling to the Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn., Harvard jumped out to a quick start in the first set against the Pioneers, taking a 5-1 advantage by capitalizing on four Sacred Heart errors.

The Crimson maintained the lead at 17-12 until the Pioneers rallied with four consecutive point—the last of which came off a combined block by freshmen Bradley Borsay and Patrick Sibley. Borsay had 12 kills, while Sibley contributed 11 kills in the match.

A Sibley kill completed the comeback and provided the Pioneers with a 25-22 first-set win.

Sacred Heart carried over its strong play to the second set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead.

A Jones kill pulled the score to 16-15, keeping the Crimson’s hopes alive, but a service ace by Pioneers senior Tim Sadowski pushed the score to 23-19, and Sacred Heart ended up putting away the set, 25-22, giving it a daunting 2-0 lead.

The Crimson jumped out to an early lead in the third set, but the Pioneers came back again, knotting the score at 20-apiece off a kill by freshman Enzo Mackenzie.

The teams made alternating runs at the end of the third set, resulting in a 23-23 tie. A Harvard kill and Sacred Heart service error pulled out the win for the Crimson, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Sensing a momentum shift, the Pioneers doubled their efforts to ensure Harvard didn’t get any closer.

Sacred Heart rallied off seven consecutive points to start the fourth set, establishing a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 25-19 win.