Killer P's Sweep Through Lavietes

Back from its road trip to New York last week, the Harvard women’s volleyball team faced stiff competition at home this weekend, losing to Princeton (15-3, 7-0 Ivy) and Penn (12-7, 5-2) in a duo of Ivy League matchups. Both opponents defeated the women’s squad in three straight games.

The Crimson (7-13, 2-6), although unable to win a game, stayed with the Tigers on Friday and finished each game within five points of the league leaders.

Especially notable was the play of senior Laura Mahon, who recorded her 1,000th career kill.

Saturday brought on an equally challenging opponent in Penn. Despite rallies late in the second and third games, the Crimson failed to capitalize on its brief leads.

Harvard continues conference play next weekend, traveling to Yale and Brown. In its previous encounters, the Crimson beat Brown, 3-1, but fell to Yale in a three-game sweep.

“We’re really just going to work hard in practice and rest up so that we’re ready to go,” Mahon said. “Yale’s tough.”

PENN 3, HARVARD 0

Errors plagued the Crimson in its match against Penn, with the squad losing to the Quakers, 3-0 (30-23, 30-20, 30-28).

The first game featured a number of ties and lead changes. The Crimson lost its momentum at the end of the game, however, allowing the Quakers to go on a 10-2 run and claim the first game, 30-23.

“As a team, it wasn’t our match,” Mahon said. “For the most part, we were aggressive, but we had some key errors. The aggression was there, but we just weren’t competitive enough.”

Mahon led the Crimson in kills, successfully putting the ball away eight times.

A tense moment came towards the end of the second game, when captain and middle hitter Suzie Trimble went down with a left ankle injury and had to be helped off the court. She did not return and watched the rest of the match from the bench with an ice pack on her ankle.

Despite a solid performance by senior Lauren Las, who filled in for Trimble with four kills on .571 hitting, the Crimson dropped the second game to the Quakers, 30-20.

“I was very proud—Lauren came out and did a great job,” Mahon said. “She’s always very confident, and she just goes out there and plays.”

Mahon also expressed optimism about Trimble’s condition.

“She’s tough,” she said. “She’s going to rest it up and work on it this week.”

The Crimson rallied in the third game, keeping pace with the Quakers and tying the score six times.

Victory appeared to be in sight when a Penn error allowed the Crimson to gain a 28-25 advantage, but the Quakers fought back to take a 29-28 lead.

A final Harvard error handed the game to the visitors.

“We had some key errors at key points,” Mahon said. “We did consistently have a problem with getting up and then letting them come right back in. We need to work on getting up and closing.”

The Quakers dominated all aspects of the game, out-hitting (49-38), out-blocking (10.5-5.5), and out-digging (69-60) the Crimson.

PRINCETON 3, HARVARD 0

Playing against Princeton, which is undefeated in the Ivy League, Harvard kept games close but dropped the match, 3-0 (31-29, 30-25, 30-28).

Trimble helped give Harvard an early 11-6 lead over the Tigers in the first game.

The teams later tied at 27, and a kill by sophomore middle hitter Alissa Flesher, one of her 13 on the day, put Harvard in the lead at 29-28, one point away from capturing the game.

But a Harvard service error placed the ball in visitors’ hands, and two Princeton kills sealed the victory in favor of the Tigers.

“The scores showed how close it was,” Trimble said. “Everyone worked real hard in practice, watching film and working on defense. We were ready—just not ready enough.”

The Crimson again took an early lead in the second game, this time thanks to Flesher and sophomore libero Katherine Kocurek. From that point on, the two teams jostled back and forth, eventually tying at 24. Princeton went on a 6-1 run to finish the game, 30-25.

“They weren’t much bigger than us, but they played very consistently,” head coach Jennifer Weiss said. “It was the broken plays where we lost points.”

The third game once more showed promise for a Crimson win, but an error set the team back late in the game. Despite strong efforts from senior Mimi Hanley and junior Kathryn McKinley, who both scored key kills, the Tigers again pulled away for a 30-28 win.

Weiss was satisfied with the team’s defense, which held Lindsay Ensign, Princeton’s top hitter, to only 11 kills.

“We went point for point,” Weiss said.

Princeton led the game in kills (53-49), blocks (12-7) and assists (49-48), edging out Harvard in each category by small margins.