Women's Volleyball To Face New Competition at Georgia Invite

Harvard women’s volleyball (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) has traveled Athens, Ga., to take part in this weekend’s Benson Hospitality Invitational and face some high quality opposition from the South. The team is riding high after its strong showing on its home floor at the Harvard Invitational last weekend, and will look to carry that momentum forward as the competition heats up.

Up first on Friday, the team will suit up against North Carolina State (5-1, 0-0 ACC). The Wolfpack is an ACC stalwart that at one point held an 11-4 record in conference play last season and looked ready to challenge on the national stage, before dropping the last five games of the season and moving out of title contention.

The squad has shrugged off that disappointing end to the season and started strongly thus far, racking up five wins already, led by opposite hitter Rachel Buckley. The senior from Texas has been in imperious form, using all of her 74 inches to rain down 74 kills in only six games, at a remarkable .293 clip.

The task of keeping Buckley at bay for the Crimson could fall to defensive specialist Sindhu Vegesena. The senior libero had a breakout performance last weekend with 65 digs in all, including a monster performance against Central Connecticut State with a career high 34 digs. Replicating that performance this weekend could be key for Harvard.

Saturday brings a doubleheader, beginning with Georgia (4-2, 0-0 SEC). The tournament hosts will bring a rowdy crowd to the game and will be hoping to ride that advantage to victory this weekend. Fresh off a 3-0 performance and victory in last week’s Georgia Invitational, the team has dominated on its home court.

A big part of the Bulldogs’ success has been the play of redshirt sophomore Desiree Macray. The Columbia, S.C. native was named SEC defensive player of the week after racking up ten blocks in the tournament. She was also pretty handy on the offensive side of the ball, with a very nifty .333 hitting percentage over the weekend, including a .462 clip against Belmont.

Harvard’s offense was balanced in its first weekend of play, with five players racking up over 20 kills each, and will have to be humming to get past Georgia. The Bulldogs bring size and digging to the court, and can steamroll teams if they get going, snapping their opponents out of any defensive rhythm. The Crimson’s versatility on offense could be useful here as it could prove troubling for the home team to extinguish all of Harvard’s various attacking options.

Indeed, the team’s camaraderie across the board has been a strength for the Crimson, according to sophomore Whitney Hansen.

“I think our biggest strength that we always appreciate the most is our team chemistry,” Hansen said. “I guess that’s a little sappy, but we all get along really, really well on and off the court, so I think that helps us out in tight spots.”

Nonetheless, a large part of the attacking burden will fall on junior Kathleen Wallace. The outside hitter spearheaded the Crimson last year with 217 kills overall and with another year of experience under her belt, could be even more dangerous this season.

Last up for Harvard will be UNC Asheville (2-5, 0-0 BS). The Bulldogs do not quite carry the same firepower as the other two teams and have struggled at the beginning of the season. Its fortunes do appear to be on the rise, though, as the team carries a two-game winning streak into the weekend, after a 3-0 thrashing of local rivals North Carolina Central on Tuesday.

The Crimson has never faced any of these teams before in competition and will be facing a higher level of competition than it usually faces in Ivy play. It’s time for the big leagues, and the team is ready to step up to the plate.

Co-captain Kristen Casey is looking forward to the challenge.

“These are some of the toughest teams we’ll play all season for sure,” Casey said. “I think we’re really excited about having such a high level of competition. If we win that’s great, and if we don’t, there’s still last week to build from.”

—Staff writer Julian Ryan can be reached at jryan01@college.harvard.edu.