Injury-Battered Crimson Falls Twice In Straight Sets to George Mason

Weakened by the absence of three starters, Harvard men’s volleyball dropped back-to-back matches in straight sets to George Mason in the penultimate doubleheader weekend of its season. The loss raises the stakes for the team’s final series of the year in two weeks against Princeton, as the Crimson will now need at least one win to guarantee its spot in the EIVA Tournament.

Harvard has never missed an EIVA Tournament in the program’s history.

The Crimson (6-16, 3-7 EIVA) has now dropped eight of its last nine matches against the Patriots (18-7, 6-2) and six of its last seven matches this year.

Missing junior setter Adrian Shevchuk to a season-ending wrist injury, sophomore outside hitter Sawyer Nichols for the weekend due to an undisclosed illness, and co-captain Brian Thomas on Saturday due to a back injury, Harvard put up a fight against George Mason in both matches, but was never able to pull itself over the line and win a set.

“It was definitely hard dealing with injuries,” junior outside hitter Quinn Bishop said. “We only traveled 11 guys, and we were down to 10 eligible guys [for the second match], so it was really difficult for us to go in there and be down our starting right side and our starting middle.”

In Friday night’s game, George Mason experienced success at the net and in hitting percentage advantages, and the Patriots dominated Harvard from behind the service line in Saturday afternoon’s rematch.

Harvard 0, George Mason 3

In Harvard’s first meeting with the Patriots, the Crimson began the opening set with a 3-1 advantage, capitalizing on errors by George Mason at the service line and on the attack. Harvard’s early success was short-lived, however, as the favored hosts began to settle into the game, going on a 10-2 run to establish a strong 11-5 lead.

From there, it felt like each time the Crimson was poised to make a charge at the lead, a service error would take away all momentum. Freshman setter Kai Gan, co-captain Zach Berty, and Bishop all fell victim to these errors, enabling the Patriots to take the first set 25-15.

Harvard looked stronger to start the second set. Three kills by junior middle Owen Woolbert — forced to play opposite this weekend due to Nichols’ illness — in the opening minutes of the period had the Crimson knotted up with George Mason at 6-6. The teams went back and forth through the middle parts of the period, with the Patriots maintaining a slim advantage.

An ace by Woolbert late in the set cut Harvard's deficit to 23-22, but George Mason withstood the attack and closed out the set 25-23.

The Crimson began hot once more in the third set. Harvard took an early 10-6 lead after a 4-0 run, but was unable to build on it into the later parts of the set. After the aforementioned spurt, the visitors did not win consecutive points for the rest of the night, as George Mason finished the match with a 15-4 run and a 25-17 victory in the final set.

Harvard 0, George Mason 3

Despite a valiant effort on Friday, back problems kept Thomas from competing on Saturday. After a rough start to the first set, Harvard managed to pick it up towards the middle, but ultimately could not close out. It lost the set 32-30, having secured 15 kills. Although the Crimson had three successful blocks, its 0.250 hitting percentage fell short of George Mason’s 0.294 hitting percentage.

Harvard's lack of bodies was evident early in this match as the team was forced to move freshman outside hitter Julian Hong to the middle position. The 6’1” newcomer gave a strong effort, but his lack of size made it difficult to field a consistent block.

The Crimson had a stronger start to its second set, and held on until halfway through, but fell off in the second half, losing the set 20-25. Although Harvard’s hitting percentage improved to 0.296, it was no match for the Patriots’ 0.204 percentage point increase from the previous set. The Crimson secured only one block and had six attack errors.

With hope of a victory dwindling, Harvard was crushed in the third set 25-14. Its hitting percentage decreased to 0.150, and it made only eight successful kills and one block. Having failed to secure the necessary three out of five wins to win the tournament, the Crimson was sent home with its tenth road loss of the season in eleven appearances.

“I'd say the biggest thing is staying healthy and staying motivated,” Bishop said. “It's tough to come out of a two-loss weekend, but if you're looking at how each of us played, I think we all put in a great deal of effort.”

“As long as we have our full roster ready for Princeton weekend, we should be looking good,” he added.

Harvard will conclude its regular season with back-to-back home matches against Princeton (5-12, 1-7). The first game is at 7 p.m. on April 17, and the second is at 4 p.m. on April 18. The final series of the season will double as alumni weekend, and the Saturday game will mark senior night for Berty and Thomas.

—Staff writer Samuel S. Rudavsky can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @samrudavsky.

—Staff writer Alexa M. Schmitt can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at alexaschmitt.15. Follow her on X ​​@alexa_m15_s.