Crimson Can’t Get a Handle on Undefeated NYU, Recovers To Top NJIT

With parents and alums in attendance for senior weekend, the Harvard men’s volleyball team (7-4, 6-4 EIVA) finally put away the New Jersey Institute of Technology (2-12, 1-5) when sophomore opposite Seamus McKiernan killed the final point to win 15-11 and close out the Highlanders 3-2.

The Crimson defeated NJIT 3-1 on Feb. 29 in New Jersey, but this game had added emphasis as Harvard needed a win to rebound from a tough 3-1 loss to NYU on Saturday.

HARVARD 3, NJIT 2

In the decisive game five, the Crimson jumped out to an early lead after freshman setter Dave Fitz put together a strong serving run. Harvard had 10 total kills in game five, with senior middle blocker Juan Cardet and sophomore outside hitter Abe Marouf each tallying three. Marouf and junior opposite co-captain Juan Ramos each added key digs in the game to keep the Crimson ahead, and after the Highlanders staved off one match point McKiernan closed the day out with his final blow.

“I was yelling for the set [in the last point] because I wanted to be the guy to put it away,” McKiernan said.

The Crimson started the day in a hole after losing a tight opening game 34-32, but quickly bounced back with dominating play in game two (30-16) and game three (30-23). Looking to close out the Highlanders in game four, Harvard hit a road block and was forced to play catch up the entire game. The Crimson could never get close enough to challenge NJIT and lost game four 30-24 to set up the crucial game five.

“We definitely had to win that last one,” Ramos said. “We needed to concentrate more at times. We let them go on runs, then all of a sudden, it’s a catch-up game which isn’t a comfortable position to be in. But in the end we showed some guts to pull it out.”

“You can have a lot of mistakes over the course of the match,” McKiernan said. “But when it comes down to the last ball and the last game, anything can happen. We had a sour taste in our mouth after yesterday’s loss but we’re learning a lot and we’ve had flashes of great play, which has been very inspiring for us.”

The players were not only relieved to finish off NJIT and secure a split for the weekend games but also were happy to show off their skills in front of parents and alumni. Former Harvard players—setter Mike Bookman and middle blocker Alex Kowell, both ’03—provided continual support and praise.

“On the whole they have more talent than I have ever played with,” Bookman said. “They did an unbelievable job blocking all day.”

After the win over the Highlanders, Harvard still must gear up for its toughest competition against league rivals Roger Williams and Sacred Heart. The Crimson will battle Roger Williams this Wednesday in Rhode Island and will host Sacred Heart in two weeks.

“Our match against Roger Williams is our biggest game,” McKiernan said. “They beat us in five on our home court earlier in the season and they are also tied for first in our league.”

“We are looking forward to this week of practice,” Ramos said. “We can work on our technique to improve our defense, which hopefully will help us to win games.”

NYU 3, HARVARD 1

The fourth floor of the Malkin Athletic Center was charged with energy for Saturday’s match between the Harvard men’s volleyball team and the NYU Violets. Unfortunately for the Crimson (6-4, 5-4 EIVA), all the adrenaline was not enough to stop NYU from winning its fifth straight, as Harvard bowed to the undefeated Violets (11-4, 9-0) in four sets, 30-27, 22-30, 25-30, 28-30.

Down two games to one, the Crimson fought back to tie NYU at 26 in an extremely tight fourth game, igniting the boisterous Harvard crowd. But several crucial kills from the Violets’ outside hitter Evan Finch—who led NYU with 19 kills, 10 digs and five blocks—sealed the Crimson’s fate, as the Violets just managed to eke out the two-point margin of victory necessary in rally scoring.

While overall Harvard hung close with the talented NYU squad, the team was unable to pull off the upset.

The third game saw the Crimson grab the first point before NYU kicked its game into gear, rolling off a seven-point run which put Harvard in a hole it could not climb out of.

“That’s the match. You can’t give up points and runs in this game when it’s so close,” said Harvard coach Rob Keller.

It was at the end of the Violets’ convincing spurt that Harvard’s high emotions began to boil over. After a questionable call at the net extended NYU’s lead to 9-2 in the third game, Keller—who had already received a yellow card for arguing with the officials in the second game—quickly jumped off the bench. He was greeted with a red card and automatic ejection for the rest of the game.

“I can honestly say it was the worst officiating I’ve ever seen. It messes with my guys’ confidence, and I think it’s really bad for the game of volleyball when guys call really erratic matches. You don’t know what’s good and what’s bad, and then you start second-guessing,” Keller said.

The red card and ejection of Keller seemed to pump up the already highly-motivated Crimson team, which went on an 8-3 run to close to within two of the Violets.

“That’s really what I was trying to do, get [the team] jump-started,” Keller said. “It seems they responded.”

But NYU was able to weather Harvard’s emotional response, and steadily pulled away for the five-point win. Finch was assisted by outside hitters Macnair Sillick and Michael Moser, who tallied 15 and 11 kills respectively for the Violet attack.

The Crimson had started the match with a burst of energy and captured the first game thanks in part to the superior play of Marouf and McKiernan.

“We came out fired up...we couldn’t keep that same fire the whole game, but our intensity was high. Just a few more breaks here and there, and we would have been in the [fifth] game,” said McKiernan, whose hard-hitting kills kept Harvard close throughout the match.

NYU quickly dampened the Crimson’s fire in the second game. Two straight blocks of attempted kills by McKiernan sent the Violets on a 17-9 run, capped by a debatable net call that incensed Keller and resulted in the yellow card.

The loss was especially disappointing because it represented a missed opportunity for Harvard to send the league a message by giving NYU its first EIVA defeat. In addition, this loss most likely means that the Crimson will not have the quality wins necessary to move up to a higher division next year.

“I don’t think I’ve been in an athletic game that was as tough as that loss was,” McKiernan said. “We had some stretches where we didn’t play our best ball, but that last game we really turned it on. I’m disappointed.”