Crimson Concludes Rocky Season With First League Win

In more ways than one, the stories of this year’s Harvard men’s volleyball team and its four-game thriller on Saturday have been ones of perseverance.

The Crimson (9-13, 1-7 EIVA Hay) rebounded from a tough third set to beat the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 3-1, Saturday afternoon at the Malkin Athletic Center.

With the victory, Harvard avenged a 3-1 defeat last week to the Highlanders (7-20, 1-7 Hay).

Up 20-16 in the third set, the Crimson looked poised to sweep NJIT. While the score spoke of a closer set, Harvard had been dominant.

The Crimson players electrified the crowd with their play, setting up one another for several kills and coming up with some crucial blocks on the Highlanders’ hitters.

But the momentum shifted in NJIT’s favor when sophomore Kevin Van Oss found his hitting rhythm and led his team to a comeback.

The Highlanders made quick work of spoiling Harvard’s lead and closed out the set, 25-23.

“We were up, and when we let that one go, everybody on the court felt like it was our fault,” said senior middle blocker Shaun Mansour. “They hadn’t really beaten us. We just lost to ourselves. So, when we got back on the court for the fourth game, we weren’t thinking about just beating them; we wanted to destroy them.”

Sure enough, the Crimson’s performance in the fourth set was nothing short of destruction.

In part due to an impressive display of serving by junior co-captain Matt Jones, the team jumped out to a 12-2 lead over its opponents, taking the momentum back.

While NJIT would come back to within seven points of Harvard later on in the set, the Crimson’s form ultimately overwhelmed the Highlanders’ cohesion.

Harvard was able to take advantage of several errors in communication to secure a steady advantage, and—unlike in the last match—when the Crimson came close to clinching victory, this time it closed.

With his team up by eight points and needing just one to secure victory, Mansour, Harvard’s lone senior, concluded his collegiate career with an impressive kill.

“The team has a lot of good chemistry,” Mansour said. “I knew that when it came down to it, the team knew how much it would mean to me to have a part in the win, and I knew that Rob [Lothman] would try to get me the ball if he could. When it came up, I was ready.”

In the end, the Crimson closed the match with a 25-16 win in the fourth set, ending its season with its first conference win of the year.

“Win or lose, the match was up to us,” Harvard coach Brian Baise said. “We didn’t focus on the opponent; [we] just worried about our side of the net. The guys came out, and it really worked. I felt we played with a lot of confidence and a lot of consistency.”

Interestingly enough, confidence and consistency have been the plague of this season’s squad.

Like its quick 6-1 start to the season, the Crimson began the match well Saturday afternoon, boasting a two-set advantage after cruising past NJIT with solid 25-19 and 25-21 wins in the first and second frames, respectively.

Though it had trouble breaking out of its slump later in the season, Harvard proved its mettle in the team’s final contest.

“We slipped back into our old habits a bit in the third game, giving up points in streaks to the other team,” Baise said. “I was curious to see how the team would respond in the last game, and to watch them turn it around like they did was great.”

Without a doubt, Jones was the standout of the match, leading the team with 24 kills and leading the squad through the adversity of the third set. Jones also recorded two service aces, five digs, and six blocking assists.

Other notable performers were freshman outside hitter Chris Gibbons, who added 13 kills, led the team with 11 digs, and contributed to a blocking assist, and sophomore Derek Jansma who led the team with 27 assists.

“This is a young team that proved they can come out and play to their potential,” Baise said. “This win will be a great thing not only for the end of this season, but [also] to start next fall.”