Women's Volleyball Picks up Two Ivy Wins

After completing a road sweep in New York last weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball team brought that momentum back to Cambridge. The squad downed Penn in come-from-behind fashion and handled Princeton easily at the Malkin Athletic Center, extending its winning streak to four heading into the second cycle of Ivy League play.

“Our juniors and seniors have invested a lot of energy,” Harvard coach Jennifer Weiss said. “And I think that was evident in our week of preparation.”

HARVARD 3, PRINCETON 0

After getting off to a slow start on Friday, the Crimson (12-4, 5-2 Ivy) made sure to attack Princeton (9-8, 4-3) early and often on Saturday. Harvard jumped out to a commanding 16-6 lead in the second set, propelled by co-captain Caroline Walters, who led the attack with 11 kills. Junior Caroline Holte also added nine of her own.

The Crimson faced more resistance in the third and final set of the match. The Tigers held the lead for the majority of the frame. But trailing 20-18, the Crimson won seven of the next eight points to finish the weekend undefeated.

The first set saw Princeton and Harvard trade points much more evenly, with the point differential staying within two for all but two points. With the Crimson down, 21-18, the squad rallied off three straight points to tie it. After trading points to bring it to 24-all, an ace by junior Hannah Schmidt and an attack error by the Tigers gave Harvard the first frame.

Kendell Pekertin was the only Tiger player to record double digit kills with 11. After starting 4-0 in Ivy League play, Princeton has dropped its last three games in the Ancient Eight.

“This weekend we had some tough opponents,” Schmidt said. “We tend to play better when we play great teams.”

HARVARD 3, PENN 2

Down two sets to none entering the break against Penn (6-12, 3-4), the Crimson was in need of a comeback to avoid falling to .500 in Ivy League play. That is exactly what happened. The team rebounded from two slow opening sets to jump out to big leads in the last three, taking down Penn, 3-2.

The Crimson did not trail in the last three sets. It won the first three points in each of those frames and did not look back. In the middle set, the Quakers managed to tie the game at 10. But Harvard would win seven of the next 10 points, taking a commanding lead and ultimately clinching the frame, 25-20.

“We were slow, and then made some adjustments and got going,” Weiss said. “Its awesome to come back [from two sets down] and win.”

After a decisive 25-15 win in the fourth to force the tiebreaking set, the Crimson jumped out to a 13-7 advantage, only to see that lead fall to two after a four-point run by Penn. A kill from sophomore Corie Bain put Harvard within one point of victory, which was clinched on the next point with a Quaker error.

Bain once again recorded a triple-double, tallying 12 kills, 27 assists, and 11 digs. Classmate Grace Weghorst led the attack for Harvard with 16 kills.

Friday marked the second time this year that the team has come from two sets to none to win. The first came in nonconference play against Santa Clara.

“We were definitely mentally down after the first two sets,” Walters said. “But we asked ourselves what type of team we were [during the break]. Then we mentally turned it on. We told ourselves losing was not an option.”

Harvard is tied for second in the Ivy League, one game behind last year’s conference winner, Yale.

“We tell them one day at a time,” Weiss said. ”And they’ve truly bought into that, and we’re going to keep doing that.”

—Staff writer Kurt T. Bullard can be reached at kurtbullard@college.harvard.edu.