Men's Volleyball Falls in ECAC Standings With Losses to St. Francis, Penn State

At this time last week, the Harvard men’s volleyball team was recuperating after two victories over Charleston and luxuriating in whatever sense of peace came with a two-match winning streak.

But any warm feelings evaporated this weekend during a trip to Pennsylvania. By losing to St. Francis and Penn State, the Crimson (11-10, 7-5 EIVA) plummeted into a two-way tie for fourth, putting the team at risk of missing conference playoffs.

“It was a tough weekend, but we knew it was going to be tough,” senior outside hitter Alec Schlossman said. “I don’t think we’re too discouraged by the [losses] because we know we can compete.”

ST. FRANCIS 3, HARVARD 2

Nearly two hours into a Saturday match against the Red Flash (17-8, 8-4), Harvard coach Brian Baise called a timeout.

The Crimson now trailed 9-5 in the fifth frame of a match that would determine second place in the EIVA, and Baise sought to calm his team before the result was signed, sealed, and sent off.

In the short term, the tactic worked: Harvard won the next three points to get within one.

But a kill by outside hitter Stephen Braswell contained the swell and prevented the lead change. From there, the two sides exchanged points until 14-13, when another Braswell finish handed the contest to St. Francis.

“Losing five-setters is always the most painful because you were so close to winning,” captain Branden Clemens said. “It ended up being a difference of two points.”

The Crimson forced a fifth set largely thanks to a monster eight kills by Clemens in the fourth, which the visitors took, 25-23.

On the night, Clemens topped his side with 16 kills. Meanwhile junior outside hitter Casey White posted a double-double with 12 finishes and 12 digs.

However, the more impressive statistics belonged to the Red Flash, which never trailed in the second and third sets. In both cases, St. Francis hit higher than .500 and won the second frame by eight points and the third frame by 12.

Mike Marshman was a major cause of this imbalance. The Red Flash senior tallied 15 finishes and added nine block assists, more than a third of his team’s total.

“He’s a fantastic player,” Clemens said. “We weren’t able to adequately stop him, which really hurt because when they passed well, they were able to run him and usually get a point.”

A back-and-forth first set portended the drama that followed. Facing a 19-17 deficit, Harvard turned on the jets with White serving and created enough separation to win, 25-22.

PENN STATE 3, HARVARD 0

Penn State has lost only one conference match since February of 2014. At home on Friday night, the No. 11 Nittany Lions (17-8, 10-1) were in no mood to lose another.

Limiting the Crimson to a .152 kill percentage, Penn State swept the visitors and maintained an iron grip on first place.

“We have all the confidence in the world that we can compete with them,” Schlossman said. “The first set, we had our chances late. We just have to do better in close points.”

The contest only took a lopsided turn midway through the second game, when the Nittany Lions used a 6-0 service run to turn a 17-16 deficit into a five-point lead.

Penn State claimed that frame, 25-18, and carried the momentum into the third. The hosts won seven of the first eight points and fended off a Harvard comeback to close play with a 25-17 win.

On an individual level, only sophomore middle blocker Riley Moore posted above-average numbers for the Crimson. He tied Clemens and sophomore outside hitter Brad Gretsch with six finishes but recorded a .625 kill percentage.

In the first frame, Harvard kept the score close all the way through 23-23. That’s when Nittany Lion Chris Nugent recorded two kills to claim the set and doom the Crimson to a week of uncertainty heading into the final slate of regular season games.

“We fought really hard and put in a lot of effort,” Clemens said. “[But] next weekend definitely became a lot more important.”