Crimson Blanked Twice To End Three-Game Win Streak

All good things must come to an end. Even the Harvard men’s volleyball team’s three-game winning streak.

Succumbing to a pair of losses, the Crimson (7-7, 4-3 Hay) was swept by non-conference foe St. Ambrose (16-6) Friday night and by EIVA division-leader Springfield (14-5, 7-1 Hay) Saturday.

Harvard dropped to .500 in EIVA division play. Springfield currently tops the Hay division with a 7-1 record, while Harvard remains in the middle of the pack behind the Pride and NYU.

“We still have a lot of season to be played, and right now our goal is to get to the playoffs and come in second in the conference,” junior Jeff Nathan said. “The loss hurt, but we’re not going to let it ruin the rest of our season. We still have an opportunity to make it to the nationals.”

SPRINGFIELD 3, HARVARD 0

After the Crimson yielded to the Pride at the beginning of the season, Harvard was looking for revenge on its league rival’s home court in Springfield, Mass.

But the Crimson failed to overcome the Pride last Saturday night, falling in three (30-14, 30-26, 30-22).

“It was a little bit of a disappointing loss, obviously, because they’re the first place team in conference,” Nathan said. “And this is a game we had marked on our schedules ever since we lost to them earlier this season. We gave a good effort; we just got outplayed. They were just a better team [Saturday] night.”

Springfield proved to be unstoppable in the first game, posting a hitting percentage of .593, while the Crimson only managed an attack percentage of .200.

Harvard did not fare any better in games two and three, hitting a meager .105 and .156, respectively.

Sophomore Erik Kuld and junior captain Brady Weissbourd shined again, leading the Crimson with 11 kills each. Weissbourd posted a hitting percentage of .429. Senior libero Brian Rapp dove for eight digs, while sophomore setter Gil Weintraub set up for 32 assists.

But though a few individuals shined, the Crimson could not overpower its league foe.

ST. AMBROSE 3, HARVARD 0

Swept for the first time this season, the Crimson was stung by the Fighting Bees, 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-27) last Friday evening at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Harvard and St. Ambrose remained close in the beginning of the first game. With the match tied, 7-7, the Fighting Bees notched an ace, and the Crimson yielded four attacking errors, giving St. Ambrose a solid lead. Harvard was unable to bounce back and gave up the first frame, 30-24.

With junior captain Brady Weissbourd serving, the Crimson opened up the second game on a much better note. Harvard captured the first five points of the frame and seemed to have recovered its momentum. But the Fighting Bees fought back and quickly overtook the Crimson’s lead. St. Ambrose limited Harvard to a .061 hitting percentage, and though the Fighting Bees only posted an attacking percentage of .176 themselves, the difference was enough to overpower the Crimson. Harvard played from behind for the remainder of the match, surrendering, 30-25.

In the third stanza, Harvard battled to stay in the game, as the game featured nine ties and three lead-changes. But St. Ambrose refused to relent in its offensive onslaught, as the Fighting Bees recorded a hitting percentage of .368 and slammed down a match-high 20 kills in the final game. The Crimson kept close, but fell short in the end, 30-27.

Kuld led the Crimson with a match-high 14 kills, and Weissbourd followed close behind with 12 of his own. Rapp posted nine digs, and Nathan notched five digs, while Kuld recorded four digs. Weissbourd, senior Jamie Crooks and sophomore Soren Rosier all reached three block assists.

Despite the pair of losses, the Crimson remains hopeful for the rest of the season.

“We have three more matches in conference, and if we win out those matches, we’ll get a chance against Penn State,” Nathan said. “We’ll use the losses as motivation to work harder and take care of business.”

—Staff writer Courtney D. Skinner can be reached at cskinner@fas.harvard.edu.