Season Opens With Stellar Saturday Down South

Although its first game of the Georgia State Invitational was not the ideal way to start the season, the Harvard women’s volleyball team rallied from a 3-2 loss against the College of Charleston to take home a pair of wins to close its opening weekend.

The Crimson started off strong in its first match of the weekend against the Cougars­—the eventual tournament winners—taking the first two games, before College of Charleston fought back to capture the remaining three games.

“After the first match we were obviously disappointed because we had won the first two sets,” co-captain Christine Wu said. “But we saw some good things along with the bad ... and tried to focus on the positive.”

Harvard certainly found its groove after the initial match, battling in a second five-set match and dominating in a 3-0 shutout against Georgia State and Jacksonville State, respectively.

HARVARD 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0

After being forced into five-set matches in the previous two games, the Crimson did not let its momentum slip in its final match against the Gamecocks, posting a dominant 3-0 win.

Harvard began the match in the same fashion it had against its preceding opponents: with a two-game lead. However, unlike in its earlier two matches, the Crimson never relinquished its early advantage.

In the first set of the match, both teams put up a fight, drawing even at 22-22 before Harvard took control of the game, taking advantage of Gamecock errors. Co-captain Sandra Lynn Fryhofer sealed the deal with a kill for the 25-23 win.

The second set was much of the same, with the victor determined late in the game. Harvard improved to a .421 hitting percentage and recorded a strong 17 kills en route to its 25-22 win.

The Crimson left nothing to chance in the third and final set, garnering a 17-15 lead over the Jacksonville State and refusing to give it up. Harvard took the game, 25-20, and ultimately the match without a dropped set.

Junior Taylor Docter and sophomore Erin Cooney led the offensive effort, recording 11 and 10 kills respectively, while junior Beth Kinsella contributed with an impressive 35 assists in the victory. Sophomore Teresa Skelly and Fryhofer bolstered the defense, posting four blocks each for the Crimson.

“We played amazing in the final match,” Wu said. “It was a solid ending to a great opening weekend.”

HARVARD 3, GEORGIA STATE 2

Coming off of a loss in its opening match against the Cougars, Harvard revived and came off on the winning end of another competitive match against Georgia State.

The situation going into the fifth set was all too familiar for the Crimson, which had taken the first two games of the match, 25-22 and 25-16, but was facing an opponent that had turned the tables in the third and fourth sets with a pair of 25-22 game victories.

But Harvard ended the Panthers comeback in the decisive fifth set, recapturing the momentum for an exciting 3-2 win over the hosts. Docter, Cooney, and Skelly again led the offense, with 17, 11, and 13 kills respectively, while Kinsella added a notable 50 assists. Fryhofer worked well on both ends, posting 13 blocks and six kills for the Crimson in the victory.

“By the second match, we had a lot more confidence and had gotten more used to playing with each other,” Fryhofer said. “We had to fight back again ... but we came out really strong.”

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 3, HARVARD 2

After entering its opening weekend with high hopes, Harvard left its first match with a sense of disappointment, after falling to the College of Charleston in a thrilling but ultimately losing endeavor.

The Crimson came out with a bang, securing the first two games of the match, 25-19 and 25-23, respectively, and it looked as if it would have smooth sailing to a 1-0 record, but the Cougars came back with a bite.

The College of Charleston opened the third set on a 8-1 run that culminated in a dominant 25-13 win.

Harvard fell behind again in the fourth set, only to recover and level the playing field at 21 and again at 22, before finally losing following a Cougar ace.

Both teams went back and forth in the final game, tying at 10-10, but the College of Charleston answered with three kills that effectively determined the match. A final kill from the Cougars decided the 15-12 victory.

It was a disappointing start, but a start that did not determine the tone for the remainder of the tournament for a young Crimson squad.

“I thought it was one of the best preseason tournaments Harvard has had since I’ve been here,” Fryhofer said. “It’s a good indicator that we can hold our own against strong teams ... and persevere in tough situations.”

—Staff writer B. Marjorie Gullick can be reached at gullick@college.harvard.edu.