Sluggish Start Dooms Harvard

Getting off to a slow start, Harvard women’s volleyball was unable to catch up to the University of New Hampshire, falling 3-0 (20-30, 23-30, 28-30) in last night’s match at Lavietes Pavilion.

“University of New Hampshire came out playing at us from the very beginning and we didn’t respond to that,” coach Jen Weiss said. “We started to at the end, but it was too late.”

Junior Kathryn McKinley led the Crimson offense with 10 kills on 25 attempts. Sophomore libero Katherine Kocurek and senior Laura Mahon each dug 13 balls, while McKinley and sophomore Chelsea Ono Horn had 11 digs each.

Sophomore Lily Durwood led Harvard with 18 sets, and junior Laura Mays added an additional 14 assists.

Although the Wildcats towered above the Crimson squad, with six players over six feet tall, Harvard out-blocked UNH 9-7.

Sophomore Alissa Flesher led the Crimson defensive effort with four block assists, with one other solo knock down.

“We had talked about their hitters and a lot of them have pretty high verticals, so we waited a little longer on them,” senior captain Suzie Trimble said. “It was smart blocking on our part.”

Harvard was slow out of the gate due to poor serve receive, getting off to an early 5-1 deficit.

That was all the Wildcats needed to take the first frame, as the Crimson failed to draw any closer than three points, en route to a 30-20 UNH victory.

In game two, the Wildcats picked up right where they had left off, taking another 5-1 lead and stretching it to 9-2 on consecutive Harvard errors. The Crimson answered with a four-point rally, pulling within three of the UNH lead. But the Wildcats again opened an advantage, taking the game 30-23.

The Wildcats opened with a 3-0 lead in game three. But Harvard capitalized on a few UNH errors, tying the game at four.

The Wildcats managed to work a 10-6 lead, but the Crimson slowly picked away at UNH, pulling within one of the lead.

After a Wildcat timeout, Flesher and senior Mimi Hanley combined for a block, tying UNH, 21-21. A Wildcat service error gave way to Durwood setting up Flesher for the lead-taking kill. Continued back-and-forth play culminated with UNH taking the third game after a bad set from Laura Mays, thereby completing the sweep of the Harvard squad.

Though it proved too little too late, the Crimson figured out the Wildcat style of play, which bodes well as yesterday’s game marked Harvard’s eighth game of the season and the 14th game for UNH. According to Weiss, the team is using its games against more experienced teams like New Hampshire to better prepare for the Ivy League schedule.

“We went down to American to play those teams to prepare for the Ivy League,” Weiss said. “We played with Michigan State in the first weekend and we did great. We play those teams to get better for the league...Our goal is to win the Ivy League and I think we have a great shot this year.”

The Crimson opens its Ivy League schedule this Friday against Dartmouth in its first game in the Crimson Classic at Lavietes Pavilion.

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.