M. Volleyball Clinches Playoff Berth After Tough Week In California

While most Harvard students spent Spring Break in sunny locales, coaxing their brains to slowly excrete the putrescent academic mush they had been cramming the previous week, the men's volleyball team was hard at work.

The Crimson played No. 1 Long Beach State, Cal Baptist, Santa Barbara Community College and La Verne, dropping all four matches on its annual Western road trip.

Back east, Harvard (12-6, 8-2 EIVA) rebounded by winning its final two league games against Columbia Union and Eastern Mennonite.

The wins gave Harvard the Odeneal Divisional crown and guaranteed the Crimson a spot in the EIVA playoffs later this month.

"This past week and a half has been very beneficial to our team," said co-captain Ed Pankau. "We learned at what level we can play and we really picked it up when it counted. Only good things can come of this, and I can't wait for the playoffs in two weeks."

Harvard 3, Eastern Mennonite 1

Sunday night was a monumental disaster for the athletic department of Eastern Mennonite University.

Harvard 3, Eastern Mennonite 1

EMU, which was to play its final game of the season as well as the final sporting event in its decades-old gymnasium, trumped up the meeting with Harvard and had alumni fly in for the match.

Unfortunately for EMU, the Crimson demolished any chance for a memorable evening, dismantling the Royals in four games (12-15, 15-10, 15-12, 15-10).

Bolstered by the overwhelming fan support, EMU was resilient in the first game, pulling out a 15-12 win.

After that win, however, the wheels came off the Royals' attack, and the Crimson was able to wear out EMU down the stretch.

"We were asleep for the first game," said freshman setter Mike Bookman. "But then we woke up and finished them off pretty easily."

Harvard Coach Tom Wilson took the opportunity to play his entire roster in the final match of the Crimson's regular season.

Freshman middle blocker Alex Kowell, normally the understudy for Pankau and middle blocker Justin Denham, capitalized on the playing time to contribute seven block assists and five kills on his way to an impressive .571 hit percentage.

Other Crimson players that made important contributions to the final league win were Pankau with 20 kills on a frightening .692 hit percentage, junior Brian Stevenson with 18 kills and a perfect 22-for-22 serving effort, and senior Joe Herger with 17 kills and 14 digs.

Harvard 3, Columbia Union 0

Like Sunday's game against EMU, Harvard added insult to injury by routing Columbia Union in three games, including a disparagingly rude shutout in the final game that clinched a playoff berth for the Crimson (15-11, 15-8, 15-0).

Harvard 3, Columbia Union 0

The match was played on Senior Night at Columbia Union, and was the final hurrah for Pioneer seniors Nathan French and Jeff Badillo. Despite the ceremony, Harvard saw to it that the hurrah was more a whimper than a roar.

The Crimson was led offensively by Stevenson, who had 16 kills on a .577 hit percentage, and defensively by Denham, who came up big with eight block assists and one block solo.

"Brian Stevenson was an animal throughout the match," Pankau said. "And JD [Justin Denham] was a blocking machine."

The Pioneers, despite the 3-0 final result, did not play poorly throughout. In the first two games, Columbia Union kept close buoyed by the emotion of the team's two seniors and at times threatened to win the first game.

The big blocks from Denham and offensive firepower from Stevenson proved too much, however, and the Pioneers fell 15-11 in the first game and 15-8 in the second.

And then the stage was set for Harvard's best game of the entire season.

Riding the momentum of the previous two wins, the Crimson came out firing on all cylinders. Kills from Herger and Stevenson fueled the Crimson offense, giving it a commanding 12-0 lead.

On the next point, Pankau, who had been relatively quiet most of the match, unleashed an unbelievable swing on a perfectly set ball by Bookman. His resounding kill slammed off the floor and ended up in the rafters.

"I thought he broke the seams off the ball," Bookman said.

"It was total mayhem," Pankau said. "It had to have been completely demoralizing for the other team. Too bad no one got it on tape."

With that exclamation mark, the Crimson shut out the Pioneers 15-0 in the first shutout game for both teams.

California Matches

The road trip to California showcased both excellent and abysmal playing by Harvard.

California Matches

Against the NAIA's top team, Cal Baptist, the Crimson came out flat and dropped the first game 15-9.

Cal Baptist escaped with a 19-17 win in the second game and then went on to sweep Harvard with a 15-12 score in the third game.

The next day, Harvard faced Santa Barbara Community College and lost in a grueling five game match (12-15, 15-2, 15-8, 8-15, 15-10). Again, Harvard showed both flashes of brilliance and streaks of mediocrity.

Santa Barbara Athletic Director Bob Dinaberg offered an interesting clue to the community college's win when speaking to the Santa Barbara News Press.

"It was 2-2 and I heard Melody Parker tell her guys, 'No matter what happens in this match, all you guys are going to end up working for these people.' I think that inspired them, because they really came out and played great in the fifth game," Dinaberg told the Daily Press.

The streaky play continued for Harvard as it lost to La Verne the next day in four games (11-15, 15-9, 4-15, 11-15).

Harvard followed that loss with another as it was taken apart by the top-ranked team in the nation, Long Beach State, in three games (7-15, 9-15, 3-15). To its credit, the Crimson was able to hang with "The Beach" even taking an 8-6 lead in the second game.

Aside from playing volleyball in California, Harvard also managed to get some quality beach time at Mission Beach, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. If they couldn't manage a win, at least the Crimson players came away with tans.