W. Volleyball Ends Season on Low Note

The Harvard women’s volleyball team closed out its season this weekend by losing its last two games at home. On Friday the Crimson (10-14, 3-11 Ivy) lined up against Cornell at the Malkin Athletic Center, dropping the match in five games. Harvard’s sporadic play continued against Columbia, resulting in another 3-2 loss for the Crimson.

Cornell 3, Harvard 2

Cornell (16-9, 8-5 Ivy), coming in on a two-game winning streak, opened up the match by building an early 21-16 lead. After a timeout, Harvard stormed back behind a strong defense and a flurry of errors by the Big Red. Freshman Kaego Ogbechie, who recorded 16 kills, four aces and four solo blocks, propelled Harvard to a 30-26 lead.

The Crimson dominated the second game by capitalizing on Cornell’s mistakes and putting up a strong defensive front. Opening up an 11-6 lead, Cornell crept back to within two, before co-captain Erin Denniston recorded six of her team-high 17 kills to help Harvard seal the win, 30-13.

In the third game, the Crimson began to fall apart. Cornell’s Jennifer Borncamp recorded 12 kills, 10 digs and nine blocks to help build an early 14-4 lead. Harvard’s attempt at closing the gap seemed to ebb after sophomore Lauren Gallgher suffered an ankle injury. The Crimson never got within 10 points and ended up losing the game, 30-19.

The Big Red began to lay on the pressure in the fourth game, taking advantage of Harvard’s poor passing to take an early 16-11 lead. The Crimson fell back on its defense to keep it close but never had a lead dropping the game, 30-22.

In the deciding fifth game, Harvard came alive and tied the score, 6-6, but were unable to take the lead. Cornell took advantage of Angela Barbera’s match-high 18 kills to surge ahead 9-7. Harvard, however, pulled to within 13-12 late in the game.

Ultimately, the Big Red proved too strong, winning the game, 15-13, on a kill by Jaimee Reynolds.

“We came apart after Lauren went down. She was our last middle-hitter, and we were forced to rotate much of the team to compensate,” said sophomore Amy Dildine, who left her outside hitter position to play middle hitter after the injury. “Mentally we felt we were suddenly at a disadvantage and our play and passing deteriorated considerably.”

Columbia 3, Harvard 2

The story of Saturday’s game against Columbia ( 14-9, 8-6 Ivy ) was the rushed return of sophomore Amy Asare. Out with a stress fracture in her foot, Asare had not seen action and had only practiced once in the last five weeks. Coming in to to fill the void at middle hitter, she responded by recording nine blocks in the match.

Cornell opened the match by winning the first game, 30-20, behind the remarkable play of Madia Willis, whose 33 kills were a match high.

The Crimson stormed back in the first game. Denniston put on another strong performance with a team-high 21 kills while sophomore Mindy Jellin handed out 57 assists with 17 digs. The Crimson was able to hold on to a healthy lead and win, 30-19.

The third game saw the momentum swing back to the Lions’ favor. Behind the play of Katie Beauregard, who had a match-high 24 kills and added eight kills, Cornell held on to an early lead to win, 30-24.

Down two games to one, Harvard responded. Ogbechie had 19 kills and 10 digs to help lead the Crimson on a rare comeback. With a 30-24 victory, Harvard was able to force a deciding fifth game.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, the Lions responded. Columbia’s Julia Topick had 65 assists and 11 digs. The fifth game ended, 15-11, giving the Lins the game and the match.

“Even though our season ended on a three-game skid, we played harder in the last two games than we had much of the season,” Asare said. “I feel like we can use this season as a guide to what we need to work on teamwise. Although we will miss Erin [Denniston], who was our star hitter, the rest of the team is coming back and I think we will turn it around next season.”