Harvard Women’s Volleyball Stuns Penn With Reverse Sweep After Friday Loss

Just as Daniel LaRusso hobbled off the mat and was written off before returning to fight with pride and grit in “The Karate Kid,” Harvard women’s volleyball ran the crane-kick play against the University of Pennsylvania, erasing a 2-0 set deficit to win 3-2 at the Malkin Athletic Center on Saturday.

The victory follows a bitter 3-1 loss to Princeton on Friday and a split-record tour around the Ivy League that handed the Crimson its first two losses of the season in previous weeks.

Harvard (13-3, 4-3 Ivy League) faced tough opponents in the Tigers (7-8, 5-2) — victors of last year’s Ivy Tournament — and Penn (10-7, 2-5), with the series ending in a split in the Crimson’s first homestand in Ancient Eight play. Although Harvard started the year with a perfect 11-0 record, the team suffered its second loss of the season at Cornell and now sits fourth in the Ivy League standings.

“We played harder. We played a little bit more consistently than we did up in Ithaca, and they blocked us. We didn’t,” head coach Jennifer Weiss said after the loss to Princeton on Friday. “We were flat up in Ithaca, but I think we now worked hard, we fought hard, we were where we wanted to be.”

Princeton 3, Harvard 1

After going 2-2 on a two-weekend road trip to start Ivy play, the Crimson kicked things off by immediately asserting its dominance and completing multiple point-blank plays. Freshman outside hitter Kayla Nwabueze set the tone from the opening points with consistent attacks, powering Harvard past the Tigers and securing a first-set win, in which the rookie finished with a season-high 13 kills.

Yet, Princeton came out of the set interval unwilling to stand down. Driven by sophomore middle blocker Shelby Burriss, the Tigers forced the Crimson to make errors, which widened the margin early on. Unable to overcome an overwhelming 20-12 deficit — and despite rallying efforts by freshman outside hitter Masina Ogbechie — Harvard succumbed and conceded the second set.

The Crimson came out with guns blazing for the third set and even completed a spontaneous pancake play by freshman setter Catlin Shao.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the same pattern as in the second set prevailed. Harvard continued to rely on its front row’s strong performance, powered by Nwabueze and captain Ryleigh Patterson. While the Crimson was able to pull closer and challenge the Tigers consistently by forcing lengthy rallies, it ultimately lost the set and entered the fourth down 2-1.

“They started swinging. They started finding their number,” said Weiss. “We knew what they were running. I thought our block was spot-on in the beginning, and then they just sped up a little bit in sets two and three, and their ball control was on, while ours was not.”

The fourth and final set was quickly commanded by Princeton. Senior outside hitter Ali Farquhar, who finished the game with eight kills, led Harvard’s efforts to keep the victory flame ablaze, but decisive blocks by the Tigers’ front row and well-placed aces put them in front early on.

Refusing to throw in the towel, the home team stealthily cut the lead to 23-22, but Princeton closed out the set — and the contest — with two consecutive points to win 25-23.

Harvard 3, Penn 2

Tasked with the challenge of playing consecutive games, the Crimson thrived under pressure and completed what could be described as a fairy-tale comeback win on its home court, 3-2.

Standout performances from senior libero Yvette Easton — who finished the game one dig shy of her career-high, 27 — and Patterson — who recorded a game-high 14 kills and 10 blocks — ensured the victory. However, the Quakers were not willing to yield easily.

With a blow of the whistle, the game was underway, and Harvard quickly found its way around Penn’s defense at the hands of sophomore outside hitter Sofia Rossi. Showing no signs of discouragement from Friday’s loss, the Crimson linked up harmoniously and displayed its offensive prowess.

However, the momentum swung the visitors’ way, even after a monster kill by Rossi along the sideline, as the Quakers rallied numerous times to take the set, 25-22.

Motivated by the desire to tie the game, Harvard secured the first points of the second set. Despite impressive digs and textbook setter assists, though, the Crimson’s early lead in the set was severed, and the Quakers got ahead.

Even after tying the set at 21-21 thanks to Farquhar, who fueled the offense, the Crimson looked nervous and lost four straight points, widening the deficit to 2-0.

The third set proved to be the turning point of the game for the host. The Crimson avoided a clean sweep by dominating the set, even though the scoreboard showed a narrow margin. Rooted in Easton’s heroics and monster kills from both teams, this ace-heavy set exposed a worn-out Quaker defense with several vulnerabilities, one of which was blocking. Harvard capitalized on it to win the set.

Having dissected Penn’s defense and inspired by an electric home crowd, the Crimson’s eyes were on the prize, and nothing was going to stop it from getting to it. Not kills, not blocks, not aces.

Through a powerful Ogbechie-Patterson pairing up front, Harvard was able to steamroll past Penn in the fourth set, securing a 25-13 win.

The MAC shook and trembled at the potential comeback, and the fifth set didn’t fall short of expectations.

Harvard started strong right out of the gate but met much livelier Quakers; all chips were in, and nobody wanted to cash out.

An offensive surge by Penn led to a huddle-back timeout for the Crimson, after which Farquhar came off the bench, forced errors, and completed game-deciding blocks.

With the score tied at 12, the crowd was captivated. The Quakers got a point back, but so did Harvard after a critical block.

Knotted at 13-13, with euphoria bursting through the walls, the Crimson powered through and won the set by blocking a kill attempt and converting it into one of its own, completing the comeback win.

After this exciting home victory, Harvard looks ahead to an encounter in Hanover, N.H., against Dartmouth, which it’s beaten seven times in a row, as it seeks to improve on its conference record and climb the standings.

The Big Green is tied with Columbia for the worst record in the conference at 1-6, so the Crimson might face an opponent willing to do whatever is necessary to get out of the slump.

“That’s the process,” said Weiss when asked about her team’s gritty mentality. “That’s all about the process in practice. If they practice and they are consistently focused in practice, then that helps with their confidence, so that they can keep their composure in the competition. They know to trust their training. We worked a lot this past week, and that was good. We had to fight for points. It absolutely showed.”

Harvard’s clash with Dartmouth will begin at 3 p.m. EDT on Saturday afternoon.