Men's Volleyball Goes 1 For 2

In a turbulent season full of ups and downs, the Harvard men's volleyball team found itself repeating the past this weekend.

The Crimson split two matches in a weekend road trip that ended league play for the season. After losing to NYU in four games on Saturday afternoon, Harvard (10-8, 1-6 EIVA-Hay) picked itself off the ground to beat Queens College in five games yesterday.

The Crimson hopes to use this weekend as a tune-up for a series of matches in California at the end of the month.

Harvard 3, Queens 2

Yesterday afternoon, the Crimson was able to garner its first division victory after six EIVA-Hay losses.

Harvard came back from a lethargic start to win in five games, 15-11, 5-15, 10-15, 16-14, 15-13.

It was the last league match for the Crimson's two seniors, who avenged Saturday's difficult loss to NYU.

"During the match, we had a timeout that really put things into perspective for us," co-captain A.J. Lewis said. "We had a lot of upperclassmen playing for us during the match, and it was really great to have all [the players] rally around us for the win."

The Crimson came away the winner in the highly contentious first game. With Harvard trailing to Queens 11-9, Lewis subbed in to score four consecutive points off his serve to grab a 13-11 lead for Harvard.

Harvard lost the next two games, however, and found itself scrambling for answers. Well-placed Queens serves quickly placed the Crimson at a disadvantage.

"Their strong serving really put us in the hole during the second game," said freshman outside hitter Paul Guilianelli.

In the fourth game, Harvard was able to hold Queens at match point at 14-10 three times. Senior middle blocker Evan Mager then served four consecutive points to tie the game at 14-14. The Crimson went on to win the game, 16-14.

"I was sitting on the bench [during the fourth game], and I was getting ready to pack up because I thought that the match was pretty much over," Guilianelli said. "But then Evan Mager really started to pick things up for us and gave us some great serves, and everything started going our way."

In the fifth and final game, Harvard trailed by the score of 8-5 until the two teams switched sides. Although rally-scoring games are usually obstacles to teams that are looking to come from behind, the Crimson went on to win the fifth game, 15-13.

"I was pretty impressed that we were able to pull it out in five games," Mager said. "Earlier in the season, we wouldn't have been able to come back after losing the second game, but we were able to come back and win the match."

"[Queens] was a pretty up-and-down team," Guilianelli said. "They were waiting for the momentum to pick them up, but it was pretty inconsistent. It was a very streaky match for both teams."

NYU 3, Harvard 1

The Crimson's win yesterday erased the sting of Harvard's loss to NYU the day before.

The Crimson suffered a difficult four-game loss to NYU, 10-15, 15-11, 6-15, 8-15.

"The first two games were played well, but then we really started to play flat," Lewis said. "[NYU's] service picked up, and our passing started to break up."

"Saturday was such an awful game for us," Mager said. "We just really didn't play well."

After losing to Springfield on the road last Wednesday, the Crimson had hoped to toughen up its intensity for the road match against NYU.

"We just folded too easily during the match," said junior opposite hitter Josh Banerjee. "A lot of [why Harvard has lost six league matches] is purely mental. It's not because the teams are physically superior to us."

A season-long problem, Harvard's inability to receive tough serves, hurt the team throughout the match.

"[NYU] came out with a tough server, and that really put us in an early hole during the first game," Guilianelli said. "We were a little complacent. We played them pretty close in the first game, and we thought that our momentum would be able to carry us through. But we really didn't have any defensive intensity, and our passing was pretty touch-and-go throughout the match."

The Crimson next faces MIT on Wednesday night at the Malkin Athletic Center. Harvard hopes to avenge a five-game loss that it suffered at MIT's hands earlier this season.

"It would be really great to be able to get redemption against them," Mager said.

"If we play up to our potential, we really shouldn't face any problems winning against MIT," Banerjee said.