M. Volleyball Splits Weekend

This weekend was one of contrasts for the men's volleyball team.

On Saturday, Harvard (7-4, 4-2 EIVA) traveled to New York and lost in three games (10-5 9-15, 6-15) to the SUNY New Paltz Hawks (9-12). The Crimson returned home yesterday with a vengeance, though, and easily vanquished the Hunter College Hawks (12-11) in three games (15-3, 15-4, 15-10).

Both matches this weekend were non-league contests and allowed Harvard to rest some injured players and experiment with new lineups. The next league match is against MIT on Wednesday in the Malkin Athletic Center.

"Wednesday's home match against MIT is key for us," Harvard Coach Tom Wilson said, "I suspect the Engineers will bring lots of fans, so it would be nice to have a lot of fans of our own."

Harvard 3, Hunter 0

After a lackadaisical outing on Saturday, Harvard turned up the offensive and defensive intensity to rout Hunter College.

Unlike Saturday's game, the Crimson came out buoyant and energized.

"The match against Hunter was the most fun I've had playing volleyball in a long time," said freshman Will Pritchard.

Still trying new combinations in the face of nagging injuries, Harvard Coach Tom Wilson started freshman Alex Kowell at middle blocker.

"I was really glad to get some good playing time against Hunter," Kowell said. "And more importantly, I'm glad my ankle held up after last week's sprain."

Apparently, the changes had a positive effect as the Crimson coasted to a resounding 15-3 win in the first game.

"I was really pleased to see everyone back in their usual tip-top form," co-captain Ed Pankau said. "We really stuck it to Hunter."

Harvard's dramatic turnaround was also fueled by substantial contributions from the usual suspects. Senior outside hitter Joe Herger notched 13 kills with a .524 hitting percentage and two aces, and junior outside hitter Brian Stevenson scored eight kills with a team-high .667 hitting percentage.

By winning handily in the first game, Wilson was able to give some substantial playing time to freshmen reserves Will Pritchard and Mike Zachilli. Both freshmen were impressive in their first match with considerable game time.

"I was particularly pleased today with our first-years Mike Zacchilli and Will Prichard," Wilson said.

Harvard maintained its momentum from the first game and had no trouble finishing off the Hawks in the second and third games.

Large credit to Harvard's success down the stretch goes to sophomore opposite Conor Gaughan, who ended the night with three kills, an ace and a solo block.

SUNY New Paltz 3, Harvard 0

Coming off two straight league losses, Harvard was looking to rebound on Saturday against SUNY New Paltz and take a nice road trip in the process.

Unfortunately for Harvard, only the nice road trip part panned out.

The Crimson, again without starting middle blocker Justin Denham, struggled mightily against the Hawks and turned in one of its worst performances of the year.

Harvard started the match sluggishly and had virtually no offensive coordination and sparse floor defense.

"We played really flat and were simply not executing like we should have been," Pankau said. "I am not very proud to have been a part of that match."

Statistically, the Crimson fared even worse than its demeanor would indicate.

Harvard had a season-low 37 kills and had a .140 hitting percentage--by far its worst of the year.

The Crimson collapse was precipitated by the staunch defensive effort of the Hawks. New Paltz effectively corralled Herger, normally an offensive stalwart for Harvard, and negated the contributions of Pankau.

"New Paltz had scouted us well," Wilson said, "They committed their blockers to stopping Pankau and Herger, which forced us to hit shots we don't usually hit and make errors we don't normally make."

Harvard's play was sloppy and its poor overall effort led to the devastating sweep.