Harvard Women’s Volleyball Goes Undefeated in Non-Conference Play for the First Time in Program History

Death, taxes, and Harvard women’s volleyball winning appear to be the three constants in life as the Crimson complete another undefeated weekend, not dropping a set in the process.

Harvard (9-0) swept Providence (8-3) on Friday despite missing one of its top attackers, before adding another sweep on Sunday over Sacred Heart (7-5). Freshman outside Kayla Nwabueze earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for her work at the Harvard Invitational. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native hit .292 over the weekend with four blocks and two aces.

Harvard 3, Providence 0

The Crimson showed no signs of jet lag in its first game back in the Malkin Athletic Center after a five-game road trip. Although the team was missing the offensive spark of sophomore outside Sofia Rossi, who didn’t play due to illness, Rossi’s classmate, fellow outside Bridget Egan, stepped up out of the gate. Egan landed two quick kills and a block to help open a 7-3 lead.

Unfortunately for the home team, the error bug infected the squad midway through the set. A service error followed by four straight attack errors allowed the Friars to take a 12-11 lead.

Middle blocker and captain Ryleigh Patterson righted the ship, registering a kill to kick off a 5-0 run. Harvard did not trail for the rest of the set, but had a late scare when Providence tied the set at 21. Two errors by the Friars, alongside a kill and block by Nwabueze, with assistance from Patterson, ended the threat.

Both sides had sloppy starts to the second as each committed multiple service errors. The Crimson found its groove first, with the freshman outside duo of Masina Ogbechie and Nwabueze each contributing kills as the team built a 14-8 advantage. That lead held the rest of the way, as Harvard won the second set 25-21.

The Friars put the Crimson in an unfamiliar position to start the third set: trailing. Harvard never fell far behind, but Providence distinguished itself as the leader and the host as the follower in the final set’s dance.

An entire team effort flexed the Crimson’s resolve, as senior outside Ali Farquhar, junior captain Riley Resmer, Egan, and the freshman duo all contributed multiple points as the Cambridge crew chased down the visitors’ lead to claim a late 23-19 advantage.

Providence refused to yield, however, and pushed the set to tiebreaker points. Harvard was forced to save two tiebreaker points, but the squad’s dominant net presence won out in the end. Two blocks and another attack error forced by the group ultimately claimed the set 29-27 for the Crimson.

Harvard 3, Sacred Heart 0

Harvard continued its theme of early control in this game, opening a quick lead it did not relinquish against the Pioneers. Farquhar and the salty serve of freshman libero Jordan Shelor combined to help the team out of the gate. Rossi announced her return with authority midway through the first set, landing her first kill of the weekend. Sacred Heart never put up a challenge in the 25-17 set.

The second set took on a different tenor, but ended with the same result. This time around, the Pioneers kept it close at the start but faded late. The score was tied as late as 15-15 before the Crimson found another gear that its opponent couldn’t match.

Rossi was prominent throughout the tail end of the set, hammering multiple kills. Harvard’s blocking repeatedly got solid touches on or rejected attacks, and its attack maintained diversity that kept Sacred Heart scrambling defensively, causing frequent free balls and weak attacks. The Crimson ended the set on an 11-3 run to take the set 25-18.

A strong 5-1 start to the third set seemed to give the Pioneers some confidence, but that confidence was fleeting as Shelor’s serve found paydirt twice and caused chaos the rest of the time, sparking a 6-0 run that snatched the lead from the visitors.

The set seesawed the rest of the way, reaching a 21-21 tie late. A kill by Sacred Heart broke the tie, but an error on the ensuing serve knotted things back up. From there, Resmer and Ogbechie took things home. Resmer landed a kill before combining with Ogbechie for a block. The Pioneers answered with a kill, but Ogbechie slammed one home to finish the set 25-23.

The two sweeps on the weekend bring Harvard up to 14 consecutive sets won, and 19 of the team’s last 20 sets. The undefeated start to the year propels the Crimson to 9-0, an astounding improvement from the team’s 1-7 record in non-conference play last year.

Harvard will look to carry its momentum into Ivy League play, which starts this weekend with a home game against Dartmouth (5-4). The Crimson have defeated the Big Green each of the last six times the foes have met, dropping few sets in the process. The game will be this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. EDT at the MAC. It will also stream on ESPN+.

—Sports Chair of the Harvard Crimson, Reed M. Trimble, can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ReedTrimble1