M. V-Ball Takes Invite

The Harvard men's volleyball team had its cake and ate it, too, this weekend at Vassar, winning three matches en route to the championship of the Burgundy and Gray Invitational.

The tournament was a nice tune-up for the coming week, according to co-captain A.J. Lewis.

"It's actually the first time [this year] we've beat some decent competition," Lewis said.

Saturday afternoon, in the tournament final, the Crimson dropped its only game of the weekend, 8-15 in the first game against Eastern Mennonite.

"Last year [at the tournament], we only lost one game," Lewis said. "Same scenario this year."

The Crimson quickly rebounded from the game, winning the next three games 15-8, 15-6 and 15-3 for a 3-1 match victory.

"They couldn't really stop our middle attack," Lewis said.

In the match, senior middle blocker Evan Mager performed the rarest of volleyball feats. Mager came up with a triple-double--20 kills, 10 digs and 12 blocks.

Co-captain Ed Pankau ended a tremendous match with 16 kills and 21 blocks. Junior outside hitter Joe Herger had 12 kills and 14 digs.

Freshman setter Conor Gaughan had 13 digs and a season-high 67 assists.

In the Saturday morning semifinals, Harvard (6-3, 0-1 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) handed host Vassar a 15-8, 15-5, 15-6 defeat.

In the third game of the match, the Crimson quickly fell behind 4-0. A quick block by Pankau gave Harvard a side out and set the tone for a 7-1 rally, and eventually the match victory.

"We knew what they had and we blocked the hell out of them," Lewis said. "Our blocking was phenomenal this weekend."

Harvard freshman outside hitter Paul Guilianelli led the Crimson with 14 kills, 12 digs and two service aces.

Pankau contributed 10 kills and 16 blocks.

Friday evening, in the first match of the tournament, the Crimson won easily over the United States Merchant Marine Academy in three straight games, 15-0, 15-7, 15-10.

"We came out on fire," Lewis said. "I served 10 straight points. The intensity was really high. We had a very balanced attack."

The Crimson had eight service aces in the match, which lasted an hour.

Mager had another quality match with 12 blocks, 10 kills and a .769 kill percentage.

Lewis contributed seven kills and eight digs and freshman outside hitter Paul Guilianelli added ten kills and 12 blocks.

The Crimson's next contest comes this Wednesday when the team travels to Hanover, N.H., for an exhibition with Dartmouth.

That match will be a warm-up for upcoming matches against Princeton and Rutgers-Newark.

"Princeton is our biggest rival," Lewis said. "It's a match we've been working for all season. We're going to be working pretty hard in practice this week."

"Last year they were in the Final Four, so they are perennially strong," Lewis added. "They graduated four, so this is our best chance to take them down."