Men's Volleyball Earns Sweep Against Sacred Heart

Hardworking, high-energy, and hungry—the Harvard men’s volleyball team may have earned a number of H-flavored praises last Saturday, but “hospitable” was not one of them.

Hosting Sacred Heart at the Malkin Athletic Center, the Crimson thrashed the visitors, 3-0, to strengthen a hold on second place in the EIVA. Harvard is now two games behind league-leading Penn State, which has won 17 straight conference titles.

“I don’t think we’ve had a start like this since my freshman year,” senior outside hitter Alec Schlossman said. “We’re feeling really good right now.”

Midway through the third set, with the Crimson trailing 17-13, the Pioneers’ Doug Dzema held the ball, and Sacred Heart held the momentum.

Minutes before Harvard had sported an 11-9 lead, the beneficiaries of three consecutive errors by Sacred Heart.

But the Pioneers had closed the gap and seized the lead. On the strength of three straight kills, Sacred Heart had opened up a four-point advantage and hushed the Harvard crowd—which was the reason that Dzema was behind the line right now, preparing for his third serve.

As a matter of fact, it turned out to be the junior’s final serve of the game. Harvard fielded the ball, junior outside hitter Casey White smashed it over the net, and that energetic response was all the prodding that the Crimson needed.

Capitalizing on a bevy of Pioneers errors, Harvard used an 8-1 stretch to take control. The frame ended at 25-21, with captain Branden Clemens clinching the match with a kill.

“Last night was a good game,” Clemens said. “We were playing some really good team defense.”

Harvard outside hitter Casey White was a star on the afternoon, setting a career high with 21 digs. He also contributed nine kills on a 47.1 hitting percentage.

Yet White received help from many teammates, with the offense posting a kill rate a smidgen below 40 percent and the defense putting up 13 blocks. Five players recorded seven or more kills, and Clemens topped the balanced attack with 11 overall.

“They’re a very good defensive team,” Schlossman said. “But we knew that as long as our serve-receive stayed strong and we were in system for most of the game, then we shouldn’t have a problem on the offensive end.”

Nowhere was the team effort more effective than at the start of the second frame, when sophomore outside hitter Brad Gretsch served the Crimson through a 6-0 run.

Although the Pioneers responded with a 5-0 run of their own, Harvard never relinquished the lead, completing a 25-21 win with a kill by freshman middle blocker Trevor Dow.

Throughout the season, middle blockers have put up efficient offensive numbers for the Crimson, and Saturday proved no different.

Among all players who attempted three or more attacks, sophomore middle blocker Riley Moore posted the highest kill rate at 80 percent while Dow was not far behind at 67. All afternoon the duo hit over a Sacred Heart defense that recorded as many blocks (two) as blocking errors.

The Pioneers’ offense largely came from the trio of Michael Comens, Chris Delucie, and Austin Arcala. All three players racked up nine or more kills, and Comens topped his squad with 13 finishes.

In the first set, the Crimson battled back from an early two-point deficit to tie the game at seven. The teams traded points until later in the set, when Harvard held a 19-18 lead. Then, partly thanks to four errors by Sacred Heart, the hosts turned on the jets, winning six of the last seven points for a 25-19 victory.

The Crimson limited the Pioneers to a 6 percent kill rate in the frame, an early indication of defensive dominance. For the fifth straight contest, Harvard ended with double-digit blocks as a team, led by five by Moore.

The victory positions the Crimson a full game ahead of St. Francis in the conference, roughly half of EIVA competition remains to be played.

“We want to be winning our conference,” Clemens said. “Ideally we want to win out.”

—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sdanello@college.harvard.edu.