M. Volleyball Fails To Take Advantage of Quick Start

Another solid season wrapped up with the Harvard men’s volleyball team falling just short of the postseason.

The Crimson (10-7, 8-6 EIVA) could never recover from a disastrous four-game stretch in the middle of its EIVA schedule, finishing two games behind the lone playoff qualifier from the Sweeney Division, Sacred Heart.

Harvard entered March with a 5-2 conference mark and a legitimate shot at taking the Sweeney Division title. But the Crimson proceeded to drop three of its next four contests, including a disappointing sweep at the hands of New Haven.

“It was a tough road trip, and a tough gym to play in,” sophomore middle blocker Seamus McKiernan said. “They came in pumped up and wanted to knock us off our pedestal. The problem was, we didn’t know much about them, and they seemed to know a lot about us.”

The final deathblow didn’t come for Harvard until the final contest of that stretch, a tough five-set loss to Roger Williams. That dropped the Crimson to 6-5 in EIVA play and effectively ended the squad’s postseason hopes.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t control your own destiny,” junior libero Juan Ramos said after the Roger Williams match.

The Crimson nearly hit rock bottom just six days later, as MIT gave Harvard far more than it had bargained for. After taking two of the first three games from the Engineers, the Crimson’s play began to get a bit sloppy, as MIT stormed from behind to take the fourth game 30-28.

“Before the fifth game, the guys just looked around at each other,” McKiernan said after the contest.

The game five was an intense wake-up call, and Harvard responded, taking the fifth frame 15-12.

“We have a general policy of never losing to MIT, and we certainly fulfilled that,” McKiernan said. “We still know we could have played a lot better.”

The Crimson proved that it was capable of better play over its next two contests, as it swept East Stroudsberg and beat the eventual Sweeney Division champions Sacred Heart in four games.

“It was a team effort. When we play as a team, we win. When we play as individuals our playing is fragmented, and we don’t play well,” Harvard coach Rob Keller said.

Despite the victory over Sacred Heart, the Crimson still entered the final two games of its season with no hopes of reaching the playoffs.

Harvard dropped its third and final non-conference match of the year to Loyola-Chicago. After getting trounced 30-19 in the first frame, the Crimson took the second game 30-23. But that would be the last set Harvard would win in 2004.

The Crimson proceeded to drop the final frames of the Loyola match, followed by a sweep at the hands of Springfield in the final match of the season.

It was a disappointing finish to a season that had so much promise at the outset. Harvard took five of its first six contests, with its only defeat coming in five games to Roger Williams. The Crimson had swept its opponents in each of its last three games and sat at 4-1 in EIVA play.

But after Harvard fell to Sacred Heart in four games in the two teams’ first meeting, the Crimson’s hot start had come to an end. Harvard would close out the final 10 games of its season with a 5-5 record, one which took it from division-title contender to third-place finisher.

Harvard graduates just one senior, middle blocker Juan Cardet.

Starting setter Dave Fitz will only be a sophomore next season, three of the top five players in kills per game have two years of eligibility remaining, and only two seniors will be on the Crimson’s roster next season.

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