Crimson Sweeps Gulls

An 0-3 start is tough for any team to swallow. But Harvard men’s volleyball has turned its season around, winning four in a row to push itself above .500 for the first time this year.

In the first contest of a five-match homestand, the Crimson (4-3, 0-1 Sweeney) swept non-league foe Endicott 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-27) last night at the Malkin Athletic Center to extend its win streak to two games at home and four games overall.

“We got off to a little slow start,” junior middle hitter John Freese said. “But we’re getting the hang of it with our wins, and I think [the streak] is going to keep going.”

“It feels good to be back in the black,” sophomore setter Dave Fitz added.

Even though the Gulls (8-5) led Harvard for much of the third frame, Endicott was unable to secure a comfortable advantage. Neither team led by more than three points throughout the game, and the Crimson was able to hang with the Gulls despite a bevy of violations and service errors.

“Talent-wise, we were better than them,” Fitz said. “But the thing is we were making a lot of errors, and they were keeping in it.”

A 5-2 Harvard run—including a kill by senior outside hitter Abe Marouf and three by junior middle hitter Seamus McKiernan—finally allowed it to break free of the deadlock and complete the sweep with a 30-27 clinching frame. The match also opened with a fiercely contested game. Both sides dug balls and traded points until a 7-1 Crimson run put it ahead 13-7. Endicott fought back, taking 11 of the next 19 points to pull within three.

But the Gulls could not regain the lead. Harvard’s attack proved too much for them, as McKiernan led the Crimson to a 30-22 win.

“We had a great practice yesterday,” Fitz said. “We were passing nails the whole time, and I think it carried over to tonight.”

The second frame was very similar to the opener. Harvard took a lead at 5-4 that it never relinquished. Endicott continued to battle and did not allow the Crimson any breathing room for much of the game. Once more, however, Harvard’s solid hitting—punctuated by three timely kills by junior outside hitter Luke McCrone—overpowered the Gulls en route to another 30-22 Crimson victory.

“I think we prepared really well,” Freese said. “All week we talked about how important this game was to keep the momentum going.”

Harvard will try to stretch its win streak to five in the second match of the homestand Sunday afternoon at the Malkin Athletic Center. The squad takes on Sacred Heart in a crucial contest of Sweeney division rivals.

“We have a game on Sunday that’s going to be real important—a division game and a [EIVA] league game,” Freese said. “We still have the goal of moving up to the Tait [division], and we’re just looking to continue our win streak.”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.