Men's Volleyball Jump Starts Season

Opening night jitters did little to shake the Harvard men’s volleyball team, which began its season last night at home with an impressive 3-0 win over Rivier College at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Although the Crimson struggled at times, often losing points off of unforced errors, Harvard was in control throughout the three sets.

“There were some jitters out there,” said captain and setter Mike Bookman. “Once we got into our rhythm in the third set, we took control of the game and it went from there.”

“We were a little bit jumpy. You could just see it in the huddle before the game today,” added sophomore outside hitter Juan Ramos.

The Crimson won the first two sets by scores of 30-25 and closed out the last 30-15.

In the first set, Harvard and Rivier exchanged points, as the Crimson struggled to keep the ball in play.

“I was concerned about the guys coming out with too much gas, they were hitting a lot of balls out,” said Harvard coach Rob Keller.

Harvard took an 8-5 lead off of a Rivier kill that fell out-of-bounds, and the Crimson seized the momentum. Powered by kills from junior outside hitter Juan Carlos Cardet and sophomore outside hitter Will Reppun, Harvard extended its advantage to as much as eight. In the closing points, the Crimson had some trouble putting the Raiders away, but walked off with a 30-25 win.

“Everyone was so hungry for the ball tonight that everyone was rushing the middle of the court,” Keller said. “We weren’t really playing as a team and letting the designated player go to the ball.”

The story in the second set was much the same. Harvard jumped out to an early 8-3 lead, but Rivier managed to cut the deficit to four, staging a bit of a comeback. The Crimson took a timeout when the Raiders cut Harvard’s lead to 19-15. The Crimson regrouped and held onto the lead for another 30-25 win.

Harvard dominated the third set from the very beginning and at one point enjoyed a 23-10 advantage. Reppun and Cardet continued to mount up their kills while junior opposite Russ Mosier and senior middle blocker Alex Kowell capitalized on the excellent chances provided by Bookman, who positioned the Crimson for a number of strong spikes and kills. The Crimson polished off the Raiders easily, prevailing 30-15.

Though the Crimson won easily over the Raiders, there are a number of improvements the team hopes to make before its second contest.

“We need to firm up our blocking,” Bookman said. “We didn’t read the other setter as well as I thought we could, and we gave away some points when the setter was hitting towards left-back off the second ball.”

Another problem for the Crimson is depth. While Harvard had a significant height advantage over Rivier, its roster of nine players was dwarfed by the Raiders’ 15. One of the challenges of having only nine players on the roster is the inability to field two teams for intra-squad scrimmages.

The return of Cardet after taking a year off from volleyball was more than welcome, given the Crimson’s shortage of players. While opening night jitters will fade, the disadvantages of a small roster will not. However, Keller is confident that quality will prevail over quantity.

“These kids are solid,” Keller said. “It’s the most talented team we’ve ever had here at Crimson volleyball.”

Harvard next hosts Sacred Heart at the MAC on Sunday at 2 p.m..