Women's Volleyball Tops Conference Rivals in N.Y.

With back-to-back wins this weekend at Cornell (6-12, 2-5 Ivy) and Columbia (8-8, 3-4 Ivy), the Harvard women’s volleyball team (7-11, 4-3 Ivy) jumped into a tie for third in the Ivy League.

HARVARD 3, COLUMBIA 0

Each set against the Lions was close, but the Crimson found a way to close out each frame and win in straight sets, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20, in New York on Saturday.

Trailing 9-14 in the first set, it was not initially obvious that the Crimson would pull out a straight-set victory. But Harvard fought back to win the first set and rarely trailed for the rest of the match.

The second set was tight all the way, but after edging out Columbia to take a 2-0 lead, nine kills by captain outside hitter Docter in the third helped Harvard close out the match.

Docter had a double-double with 12 digs and a game-high 21 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Kristen Casey led the game with 23 digs.

HARVARD 3, CORNELL 1

After getting out to an early two-set lead, Harvard was able to hold on and defeat the Big Red in four sets, 25-19, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20, on Friday night in Ithaca.

Late in the second set, with the score tied, 22-22, junior right side Erin Cooney stepped up and scored three kills in the last four points to give the Crimson a commanding 2-0 lead that it would never relinquish.

The Crimson began to take control late in the first set, when it closed out the frame by winning 12 of the last 14 points after trailing, 13-17.

With Harvard seemingly poised to win the match in straight sets after winning the first two and holding a 21-16 lead in the third, Cornell closed on an 11-4 run to stay in the match.

Neither team could build up a large lead in the fourth, until a 4-0 run closed out the match for the Crimson.

Docter led Harvard with 14 kills, and Casey had a game-high 14 digs. Freshman setter Hannah Schmidt and senior setter Beth Kinsella led the team with 19 assists each.