Women's Volleyball Struggles in San Diego

The Harvard women’s volleyball team played 13 sets over just two days in the second weekend of its season. The squad (3-2) headed out west to the Aztec Invitational hosted by San Diego State facing off against the host Aztecs (5-4), Southern Methodist University (6-4), and San Francisco (4-6).

The road trip was the first one to California the team has taken since 2006, facing a slate of opponents commonly considered tougher than their East Coast equivalents.

“This weekend was perfect competition-wise because the teams were just a little bit more skilled than we were in terms of having more training than us,” sophomore middle blocker Caroline Holte said.

As the Crimson broke in its new offensive system, sophomore outside hitter Kathleen Wallace notched a team-high 28 kills over the weekend and freshman setter Corinne Bain paced the team with 53 assists.

SAN FRANCISCO 3, HARVARD 1

Just a few hours after a five-set marathon with SMU, Harvard succumbed to the USF Dons in four sets.

Outplayed offensively in the first and second sets by USF, the Crimson’s attack unit caught its stride in the third set.

“[USF] was really strong,” Holte said. “That team was a lot of tall, strong girls who put up a big block that made it tough for our offense to break through.”

After three attack errors by the Dons and two kills by junior co-captain Kristen Casey, Harvard held a 13-4 lead. The Crimson never saw its lead shrink below six through the rest of the set, winning 25-16 to extend the match.

But Harvard wasn’t able to catch up with the Dons, who notched a 6-0 run early in the fourth set. Despite the Crimson rallying to close the gap to just three points, 23-20, USF took the set and the match with a kill from their freshman outside hitter, Emily Reed, and a game-winning service ace from senior setter Mackenzie Murtagh.

HARVARD 3, SOUTHERN METHODIST 2

Three Crimson hitters tallied double-digit kills against SMU. Wallace led the pack with 12, while Holte and Bain had 10 apiece over five sets.

Harvard raced out to a 5-0 lead over its Texan opponents, and finished the final set on top, 16-14, despite the Mustangs tying the set three times.

“The reason why I love that match is because it proved our team’s ability to come back after such a roller coaster of a match,” Holte said. “In such a short game, the fact that we could persevere was awesome for our team because we know that we have the endurance to win the match.”

It was the Crimson who first took a 2-0 lead in sets against SMU, winning 25-23 in the first set and 25-19 in the second. Harvard tallied hitting percentages of .297 and .379 in the opening sets.

The Crimson couldn’t complete the sweep though as SMU rallied to take the next two sets. In the third frame, the two teams rallied back and forth for much of the set, with no lead larger than three points, until two errors by Harvard and a kill by Mustangs senior Maddie Lozano gave SMU the winning edge, 25-22. Another win by SMU in the fourth, 25-18, pushed the match to five.

SAN DIEGO STATE 3, HARVARD 1

SDSU handed the Crimson its first loss of the season in four sets, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-15.

Casey and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Shults provided intensity on the attack for the Crimson, with six kills each, but errors abounded as Harvard finished with a .098 hitting percentage.

The match was the third straight in which Harvard dropped the opening set. This time, the Crimson came back to take the second with key kills from Shults and Casey late in the stanza.

“We’ve been practicing running a really diverse and quick offensive system and it’s been definitely one of the things we worked on really hard over preseason,” Shults said.

SDSU came out fiercely on offense, with a hitting percentage of .347, including third and fourth sets above .400.

Aztecs junior Michelle Weber drilled a game-high 18 kills, while teammates Summer Nash and Emily Harris hit 15 and 14, respectively.

—Staff writer Cordelia F. Mendez can be reached at cordelia.mendez@thecrimson.com.