W. Volleyball Struggles in Chicago

Perhaps it was jetlag, but facing off against three Illinois teams in the Wildcat Invitational this weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball team struggled to three consecutive 3-1 losses.

Stretches of exceptional play were overshadowed by spans of passiveness.

“We let teams play with us,” said sophomore middle hitter Kaego Ogbechie. “We let teams play at us, instead of us playing at them. The games tht we controlled, we won.”

The brightest spot on the weekend was Ogbechie. Last season’s Ivy Leauge Rookie of the Year, Ogbechie led Harvard in kills in each of its three contests, twice posting match-high totals.

For her efforts, Ogbechie was the only Crimson player named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Crimson, still several weeks away from its Ivy opener, next plays at Boston Colllege Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Northwestern 3, Harvard 1

With their biggest offensive threat on the sidelines, the host Wildcats rushed to a 2-0 lead and coasted to a 3-1 victory over Harvard on Saturday afternoon.

Northwestern (7-5) was able to overcome the loss of junior middle blocker Erika Lange, who sprained her knee Friday night against DePaul, behind a strong performance from 6’0 Iwona Lodzick. The Poland native tallied 16 kills and 19 digs to lead the Wildcats to victory.

“In general, the teams we played were much bigger than us at every position,” said sophomore outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer. “We weren’t used to blocking people that much taller than us.”

Harvard dropped each of the first two games by the score of 30-23, but rebounded in a fiercely competitive game three. With the score tied at 30-30, the Crimson picked up the final two points to take the game 32-30.

Northwestern, though, recovered to take the final game easily, 30-21.

Senior captain and setter Mindy Jellin posted 42 assists and 11 digs for the Crimson and junior outside hitter Nathalie Miller led the Crimson defense with 13 digs.

Ogbechie, with a team-high 14 kills, keyed the offense.

DePaul 3, Harvard 1

After rushing to a monster 30-16 victory in game one, the Crimson faltered, dropping three straight games to lose to the Blue Demons 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.

“When we played our game, everything was in system and everything was like clockwork,” Ogbechie said. “But you have to do that three times. You have to win three out of five. Winning one game doesn’t do anything.”

DePaul (3-9) rebounded behind strong play from senior outside hiitter Katie Engel, who led the come-from-beind victory with 18 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore middle hitter Janet Goreham also posted a double-double, with 13 kills and 12 digs.

The offensive star for the Crimson was Ogbechie, as she has been all season. Ogbechie led all players with 20 kills, an incredibly high five kills-per-game average.

Schweitzer was the only other Harvard player to reach a double-digits kill total, with 13.

After taking the 1-0 lead, Harvard dropped two games by decent margins, losing game two 30-24 and game three 30-22. However, with the match on the line, the Crimson rallied in the final game, before the Blue Demons prevailed in a squeaker, 30-28.

Loyola-Chicago 3, Harvard 1

With the match tied at 1-1, the Ramblers scratched their way to a pivotal 30-25 victory in game three to set up a 3-1 victory over the Crimson in the opening game of the Classic Friday evening.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Loyola (5-3), which eventually claimed the tournament title after consecutive wins over DePaul and Northwestern.

The Ramblers cruised to a 30-15 victory in game one behind an overwhelming statistical advantage. During the game, Loyola posted a meaty .625 kill average while holding Harvard to a dismal .000.

The Crimson rebounded in the second game, at one point taking 10 consecutive points, and later scored the two points that mattered most. With the game tied at 28-28, Harvard scored twice to take the 30-28 victory.

After dropping game three, the Crimson lost 30-22 in the final game.

Ogbbechie posted a match-high 17 kills. Juniot outside hiter Allison Bendush (11 kills, 11 digs) and Jellin (40 assists, 13 digs) added double-doubles for Harvard.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu