Men's Volleyball Remains Winless in '06

Facing two EIVA opponents this weekend at the 28th annual Golden Dome Classic, the Harvard men’s volleyball team, still playing without starting setter Dave Fitz, failed to capture a single game and remained winless on the season.

While the matches against host Rutgers-Newark and division rival New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) didn’t figure in the Crimson’s league record, the weekend set at the Golden Dome in Newark, N.J., provided Harvard (0-6, 0-1 Hay) with a chance to evaluate how well it would match up against its conference rivals in the weeks to come.

Sophomore Brian Rapp filled in at setter again for the Crimson, racking up 60 assists in the two contests. His favorite target was senior opposite hitter Seamus McKiernan, who registered 29 kills on the weekend to earn a spot on the All-Golden Dome Classic squad.

But the Crimson offense sputtered in both matches, only managing to hit above .200 in one game all weekend.

“Most of the problems were on our side of the court,” Fitz said. “The errors were making the difference.”

No. 13 Southern California (7-4, 4-2 MPSF) and Most Valuable Player Juan Figueroa took the tournament title, blanking the Highlanders before defeating the Scarlet Knights 3-1 in the championship match.

NJIT 3, HARVARD 0

The Highlanders streaked past Harvard in the consolation game of the Golden Dome Classic, tallying 51 kills in a 3-0 (31-29, 30-24, 30-16) rout on Saturday evening.

In the first of three matchups against NJIT (4-3, 0-1) this season, the Crimson played its best in the opening frame of the match. Despite posting only 11 kills, Harvard stayed within striking distance of the Highlanders but fell just short of victory, losing 31-29.

From that point on, NJIT continued to pick up momentum. Though the Highlanders hit at a meager .050 clip in the first game, they raised their level of play in the next two frames, taking advantage of Harvard’s mistakes and attacking at rates of .286 and .467, respectively.

“They got back on track because we couldn’t serve,” Fitz said. “We hit the ball into the net or served them easy, easy balls that let them set up their offense.”

On the other hand, the Crimson offense never gained its rhythm, posting only 22 kills—nine in the third game—the rest of the way. Besides McKiernan’s team-leading 15 kills, only four Crimson players notched more than one kill, with junior middle hitter Andy Nelson leading the rest of the pack with five.

As a result, NJIT ran away with the match, scraping past Harvard with a 30-24 victory in game two before closing out the Crimson, 30-16.

But the Harvard players took solace in the fact that they had learned how to stop the Highlander offense from succeeding.

“We know now what NJIT can do,” Fitz said. “All they have are these outside hitters. As long as we can contain them, we should be effective.”

RUTGERS-NEWARK 3, HARVARD 0

In the opening round of the Golden Dome Classic, the host Scarlet Knights trounced visiting Harvard, easily coasting to a 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-21) victory.

Hitting a whopping .382 for the match, Rutgers-Newark (3-6) trailed only once—at 3-2 in the second frame—the entire night.

“We gave them holes and splits in the block,” Fitz said. “We were not following our game plan.”

The Crimson offense struggled all night, hitting .053 in the first game and -.094 in the third.

Though McKiernan registered 14 kills and freshman Brady Weissbourd tallied five kills on .625 hitting, 23 attack errors and 12 service errors doomed Harvard.

“Rutgers has a big block,” Fitz said. “[That] forced us into a lot of mistakes.”

The Scarlet Knights started strong and remained aggressive throughout the match, hitting at a .560 clip in the second game.

The Crimson, hampered by injury and marred by mistakes, was unable to put up much of a fight, allowing Rutgers-Newark to win each frame by large margins.

“It’s sad that we couldn’t leave with a stronger statement,” Fitz said. “Teams are thinking that Harvard is overrated, but that’s a misconception—we’re still the team to beat in the Hay.”

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