Bedeviled in New Britain: Crimson Falls in Three

Despite its best efforts, the Harvard women’s volleyball team was swept last night (30-28, 30-26, 30-23) in their final non-conference match-up with Central Connecticut State in New Britain, CT.

Although the Crimson (5-8, 0-2 Ivy) stepped it up on defense, they were unable to come back against the Blue Devils (14-4) and their strong service attack.

“We fought back in every game,” senior Laura Mahon said, “but we got ourselves in such a hole that it made it difficult to come back and win.”

Mahon and senior captain Suzie Trimble led the team on offense, contributing 16 and 10 kills respectively.

On the defensive side, sophomore libero Katherine Kocurek led the team with more than 20 digs, adding to her season total, already second in the Ivy League.

Junior Kathryn McKinley had 17 digs, and sophomore Chelsea Ono Horn added 12 of her own. Ono Horn also contributed one of the team’s four aces on the night, bringing her season total to a team-leading 23.

In the first game, Harvard fell behind by deficits of 10-2 and 17-9 before going on a 19-12 run to bring the game close at 29-28.

However, Central Connecticut State’s Katie Karrow killed Trimble’s serve to seal the victory for the Blue Devils.

The second game proved to be a repeat of the first, with the Crimson falling behind by a 16-6 deficit early in the match before rallying to tie the game at 21.

Trimble had three key blocks during Harvard’s comeback run.

But Central Connecticut State roared back, riding a five-point winning streak en route to taking the second game, 30-26.

The Crimson took their first lead of the night with the first point of the third game, which started out as a tight contest featuring eight ties and five lead changes.

But an eight-point streak for the Blue Devils, which tipped the score from 18-16 Harvard to 24-18 Central Connecticut State, proved to be the Crimson’s undoing.

Despite a late Harvard surge, Karrow again made the game-winning kill to complete the sweep.

Although the result was disappointing, Coach Jennifer Weiss remained positive.

“We improved from the previous match and did a lot of great things with our defensive game,” she said.

Mahon echoed her coach’s sentiments, adding that the defense was “much more consistent than it has been in the last couple of games.”

Coach Weiss praised Mahon for a particularly strong night, one in which she led the team in points with 17.5 and made major contributions on both offense and defense. In addition to her 16 kills, Mahon had ten digs and hit .241 for the match.

The team has their work cut out for them as they enter an important league weekend. The Crimson is looking for its first Ivy win after two disappointing losses to Dartmouth.

Mahon said that “consistency” is the key to success against Brown and Yale this weekend.

She hopes that the team can be mentally stronger and kill their opponent’s momentum right away.

Brown is having a rough season thus far, bringing a 2-9 record (0-1 Ivy) to Cambridge. They do feature the Ivy League Rookie of the Week in Danielle Vaughan.

Yale, however, has had a strong opening to the season, going 7-3 (1-0 Ivy).

Yale and Brown went head-to-head last weekend in New Haven. The Bulldogs swept the Bears, 30-19, 30-28, 30-26.

“We improved on a lot of things tonight and we’re looking forward to the Ivies,” Coach Weiss said.

Harvard will host Brown at home on Friday night at 7 pm, followed by a match-up with rival Yale on Saturday at 4 pm in Lavietes Pavilion.