Crimson Drops Rematch at Springfield

Following a spring break road trip to the Golden State in which it suffered a trio of losses, the Harvard men’s volleyball team (7-9, 0-4 EIVA) looked to rebound last night against Springfield College (12-11, 7-7). Instead of bouncing back from its West Coast defeats, the Crimson was swept by the Pride in Baker Arena by scores of 25-18, 25-21, 25-14, respectively.

Springfield seemed to handle this match from the get-go, as at no point during the match did Harvard hold a lead. On the first point of the opening set, Pride sophomore setter Mike Becker assisted opposite side hitter senior Alberto Bravo for a kill. From that point on, Bravo never looked back and converted on a match-high 16 kills. The senior finished with an attack percentage of .565.

“[Bravo] had a hell of a game,” said freshman outside hitter Kyle Rehkemper.

On the other side of the net, outside hitter junior Matt Jones led Harvard in kills, finishing with nine of the team’s 20. In spite of his team-high, the junior was not happy with the Harvard’s performance against Springfield.

“We played what might have been our sloppiest match of the year,” Jones said. “We didn’t play strongly in any aspect of the game.”

Aside from Jones, Harvard’s typical contributors were quiet in the match. The young tandem of Rehkemper and fellow freshmen Chris Gibbons and Michael Owen scored four, four, and 4.5 points, respectively.

Midway through the first set, the Crimson was not far behind the Pride. In spite of a few early errors, Harvard faced a three-point deficit with the score at 14-11. Three kills and a block by Springfield blew the first set open, giving the Pride an 18-11 lead. The Crimson never came within five points of Springfield after the streak, and eventually fell by seven points.

Harvard was able to make the second set more competitive. Though it never led, the Crimson knotted the score at 11 apiece with a service ace by Owen. Harvard errors and the Pride’s middle hitter senior Cal Palumbo allowed Springfield to take a 2-0 match lead. Palumbo was a key part of the Pride’s 15-9 kill advantage in the second game.

When the two teams met earlier this season the Crimson won, 3-1. Members of the Harvard squad recognized the improved play of their opponents, but felt that their own poor performance was more prevalent.

“They served better than the last time we played them,” Jones said. “They didn’t hurt themselves with errors as much, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before. We just didn’t handle it tonight.”

The Crimson’s shortcomings were most apparent in the final set of last night’s match, as it fell to Springfield by a score of 25-14. Though it was only in a two-point hole early in the set at 7-5, Harvard committed three errors, and the Pride converted a service ace and a kill to go ahead by seven and seal the deal. A ten-point cushion prompted Springfield to bring in its reserves for the final points of the game. Harvard only managed to tally four kills in the final set.

“We didn’t show up tonight,” Rehkemper said. “We came out flat in the beginning, and we just didn’t pick up a spark.”

The Crimson’s early woes may be attributable to the team’s recent spring break trip.

“I don’t know if it was spring break or just rust,” Jones said, “We didn’t bring any intensity or focus into this game at all.”

Last night’s match was a part of Harvard’s late-season stretch of league play. The Crimson finishes the regular season with a span of seven Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association matches.

“We’ve got a lot of things that we need to improve upon,” Jones said. “We just need to have a great practice tomorrow and get ready for Friday against NYU. That’s going to be a big league match for us.”