Women's Volleyball Falls Short of Greatness on Alumni Weekend

Entering the weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball (8-8, 3-4 Ivy) team had a chance to make a strong statement at home against rival and perennial power Yale (11-3, 7-0 Ivy) and against other intra-league competitor Brown (6-11, 3-4 Ivy). Unfortunately for the Crimson, despite a strong performance in front of over a hundred fans and alums who traveled to Cambridge to pack the MAC against Yale, the squad was unable to overcome the might of the Bulldogs for its alumni game, falling short of greatness in four sets. The Crimson was unable to bounce back on Saturday, with a disappointing performance against the Bears leaving Harvard 0-2 on alumni weekend, and marking its first home losses of the season.

Harvard 1, Yale 3

The crowd was at capacity on Friday night for the hotly contested Harvard-Yale matchup, one that is looked forward to annually by followers of Ancient Eight athletics. Students and alumni filled not only every seat in the Malkin Athletic Center, but also the majority of the standing space around the one-sided bleachers. Among those returning to Harvard for the match was recent graduate Ava Rauser ’24. Rauser was a dominant right-side hitter in her days at Harvard with career highs of 13 kills and 11 blocks, the latter of which came against Yale in 2019. Rauser, a dominant athlete who walked onto the track and field team as a high jumper for her senior spring following the conclusion of her volleyball career, remarked on the importance of the Harvard-Yale rivalry.

“[Harvard-Yale] is historic. It’s so emotionally charged. It’s the best game of the year,” said Rauser of the historic contest.

The Crimson seemed to cure some of its sluggish start ailment early on as the team traded blows with the Bulldogs early in the first set. Two kills in three points from sophomore middle blocker Ryleigh Patterson gave Harvard a 6-4 lead. Yale, however, proved its prowess by responding with a 5-0 run only briefly interrupted by the Crimson before erupting on another 6-0 then a 7-1 run to close out the set 25-13 for good measure.

Then, the air began to change in the Malkin. As Harvard came back out for the second set and began to once again compete with the Bulldogs, hope filled the gym. That hope was born by multiple Crimson athletes contributing to the scoreboard with a variety of kills including a cheeky fake set by senior setter Rocky Aguirre that found wood between a triangle of stunned Yale defenders.

The aura of confidence in the gym took only a momentary hit when a 3-0 Bulldog run removed Harvard’s lead to tie the set at 10 all, but the cheers of loyal Crimson fans reached new heights when the team responded with a 3-0 run of its own. While Yale would once again cut right back into the lead, the home warriors gained more favor and respect from the home crowd as they continued to stand toe-to-toe with the goliath Bulldog squad that has not suffered a conference loss since Nov. 5, 2022.

Like a Rocky movie, Harvard took Yale’s best blows. In return, the Crimson peppered the Bulldogs with its own: kills by Patterson, junior outside hitter Brynne Faltinksy, sophomore outside hitter Ali Farquhar, and freshman middle blocker Bennett Trubey. The final blow from Harvard was a resounding kill from Farquhar that won the set 25-23, and proved that the Yale volleyball machine was no machine at all, but just another team.

Riding high from taking the second set, the Crimson continued to seize momentum by taking the first three points of set three. However, the Bulldogs responded by chipping away at the lead before launching a small run to take a 14-12 lead. Though Yale still had the lead, an energetic home crowd and inspired play by Harvard continued to contribute in a belief that Harvard would prevail. All of the pressure in the set and match was on the Bulldogs.

Trailing 17-15 but having regained service after a Yale attacking error, the gym seemed ready to explode at an obviously pivotal moment of the set and match. Instead, the atmosphere was dampened by a service error. With the Bulldog’s service specialist now on the line, Yale seemed poised to come up in the big moment as has become accustomed. But in another monumental momentum swing, it was the Crimson defense stepping up and forcing an additional attacking error.

Once again the fans were ready to explode, they only needed a spark from Harvard. But once again, the Crimson could not put a service in play. The Bulldogs seized this opportunity and responded with a run to stretch the lead to 21-16. Not ready to yield yet, Harvard showed grit with a 5-1 run to make the game 22-21 in favor of Yale. An exchange of points brought the set to 24-22 and set point for the Bulldogs. In a scene of cruel poetic irony, Yale was able to do what the Crimson could not: come up with a big service. An ace from the Bulldogs gave the squad a 2-1 set advantage.

The fourth and final set was all Yale as the Bulldogs cruised to a 25-13 victory that was never in doubt.

While the game did not end up with the classic underdog finish it once showed promise to be, it did lend two great sets to the lore of the rivalry. Rauser is no stranger to this storied tale, as her freshman year wrote a sweet chapter in Harvard history.

“My two favorite college games ever were Harvard-Yale games. One was my freshman year when we upset Yale and stopped them from going to the NCAAs after having our worst season ever,” she said. “And then our last game my senior year was against Yale, and it was such a fun fight with all my favorite people in the world out there.”

Returning to the MAC was an interesting experience for Rauser and led her to reflect on her career.

“It’s so bittersweet. These were some of the best years of my life, and it’s so exciting getting to watch these girls,” the Rocky River, O.H. native stated. “I love seeing this legacy continue, and seeing how this program changes every year and how well they’re doing. It’s exciting. It makes me realize how volleyball is bigger than just a sport. It’s a family, and there’s nothing like it. It’s like walking back home, walking into the MAC.”.

These reflections also led Rouser to give some sage advice to the current team.

“Lean in. You’re not going to remember the specific points. You’re going to remember how the people around you made you feel and how you felt around them,” she advised. “Lean into your team. Enjoy every second of it. It goes by so fast and these are the best friendships you’re ever going to make. These are your sisters.”

Harvard 0, Brown 3

Coming off a strong showing against Yale despite the loss, Harvard needed to maintain momentum and growth against Brown. However, the Crimson was unable to recover from the physical and emotional drain of the rivalry game and succumbed to the grind of the Ivy League schedule, dropping the match to the Bears in straight sets.

The problems started out of the gate for Harvard. Brown burst out to an early lead with an 8-0 run after the Crimson took a two point advantage in the first six points. From that 10-4 deficit, Harvard was able to creep back into the game by slowly chipping away at the Bears’ lead and cutting it down to as little as two points at the 14-12 mark. At this point, however, Brown was ready to respond with another run and to crush any hope of a Crimson recovery. This time, the Bears raced out to a lead with a margin of 9-2 before eventually putting away the Crimson 25-17.

The service line once again proved detrimental to Harvard as the team gave up seven points in the set via either an ace by the Bears or an error by the Crimson. Conversely, Brown only allowed two points to Harvard from the service line. One via an error and the other an ace by Faltinksy.

In the second set, the Crimson stayed neck-and-neck with the Bears for half of the set before losing steam and ultimately falling by the same score as the first set. Errors by Brown kept Harvard alive early in the set before the Crimson offense briefly came alive to spread kills throughout the team. Ultimately, Harvard proved unable to keep pace with a potent Bears offense and could not maintain touch. Following the Crimson cutting its deficit to 13-12, Brown was able to score two to three points for every Harvard point and stifling the team’s offense and any possible momentum.

After a lackluster first two sets, it was now do-or-die for the Crimson. Things did not look good early on for the home squad as the Bears took a 5-2 lead. Not wanting to be swept at home, Harvard rallied and composed a run to take an 8-7 lead. The Crimson maintained a tie or small lead up to the 16 all mark before mounting another run to take a 20-16 lead. Just as Havard seemed poised to force a fourth set, Brown scored a retaliatory 4-0 run to tie the set at 20-20.

The Bears maintained the momentum from the 4-0 run to take four of the next six points and reach set and match point. Unwilling to back down, the Crimson responded by blocking a Brown kill to come within one point of forcing deuce. In an anticlimactic, but fittingly poetic for the struggles Harvard has had this season, end to the match, the Crimson committed a service error to give Brown the 25-23 set victory.

After showing so much promise against Yale, this disappointing performance can easily be attributed to a “hangover” effect from the rivalry match less than 24 hours before. While Harvard has some strong senior leadership, much of the core of this team is promising young talent, and games such as this loss to the Bears can be hard but important medicine for the underclassmen to swallow to improve in the future. Winning against Brown would have been beneficial for the team in this year's quest to return to the Ivy League Championships, but instead, the team learned a tough lesson that might cost it a berth in the standings this year, but that might improve the squad’s chances in the future.

The true mark of a great team is the ability to learn and improve, and there is no better opportunity to show growth than in rematches. With a slim margin for error, the Crimson will begin rematch season with a trip to Dartmouth on Friday at 7:00 p.m. For those not making the trek up to Hanover, the game will also be aired on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Reed Trimble can be reached at reed.trimble@thecrimson.com