Harvard Men’s Volleyball Pummels Sacred Heart 2-0 in Double Header Weekend

In a weekend of at-home competition, Harvard (5-5, 3-1 EIVA) swept conference opponent Sacred Heart University (3-7, 0-6 EIVA) on both Saturday and Sunday in a strong return to games after last weekend’s cancellations.

The Crimson started the weekend strong with a blowout against the Pioneers that led the Crimson to a quick 3-0 victory. While Sacred Heart came back stronger the following day, they failed to overcome Harvard’s swift passing and strong blocks in the end, leading to a 3-0 win for Harvard.

Harvard lost its chance at competition last weekend and postponed its two matches at the University of Charleston, but came back swinging for this weekend’s round of conference competition in the Malkin Athletic Center.

Harvard 3, Sacred Heart 0

The first set started off painfully for Sacred Heart literally and figuratively. The Pioneers opening serve did not find ground but instead found the back of a teammate’s head. Harvard used this jolt of momentum to streak out to a 6-2 start, causing Sacred Heart to burn a timeout.

The Pioneers came out of the timeout stronger, but subsequently faltered to the Crimson’s consistent efforts.

At 16-10, Sacred Heart was forced to use another timeout to build back up. But the Pioneers’ sophomore outside hitter Aleksa Mandic — who took the opening serve to his head — faced yet another battle with the ball when sophomore middle blocker Owen Woolbert hit back with a kill to Mandic’s face.

Harvard’s domination at the net led to a 25-17 first set victory powered by a strong blocking game that forced Sacred Heart to rely on its off speed attack.

Set two began with the Crimson dominating the service line. Senior setter James Bardin tallied two aces in the first three points en route to a 6-1 start.

But the Crimson lead did not let up. No adjustments worked for the Pioneers and the Crimson took the set 25-9

While Sacred Heart built up some momentum to start the third set, their energy was squashed by a successful Harvard challenge. The Crimson never looked back and continued to pummel the Pioneers in every facet of the game. Ultimately, Harvard closed out the match with a lopsided 25-15 final set.

Harvard 3, Sacred Heart 0

Sacred Heart came back stronger in their Sunday game against the Crimson with a nail-biting back-and-forth that defined the game’s first set.

The Pioneers gave Harvard a fight from the first serve, starting off the set 1-3.

Unlike in Saturday’s game, Sacred Heart learned to use Harvard’s strengths against them and persistently tooled Harvard’s blocks which kept them in the game.

Still, junior outside hitter Zach Berty played an aggressive hitting game, intentionally placing the ball in the Pioneers’ back right pocket, something they were unable to battle back against.

Facing a 23-23 tied score, Harvard put in the extra push and beat Sacred Heart out for the point. Mandic, who faced a tough game and multiple hits to the head on Saturday, hit the wall in the back of the room in anger, resulting in a yellow card and leading the Pioneers to call for a timeout.

When they came back, Harvard was able to snag the lead 26-24 in a tight battle when senior outside hitter Logan Shepherd delivered a fatal overpass kill that cleaned up the first set.

Sacred Heart was unable to bounce back and challenge the Crimson in the following throughout the remainder of the game. Harvard began the second set 5-1, forcing the Pioneers to call a timeout.

While they came back fighting and working as a more strategic team than the day before, they were no match for the Crimson’s persistence. Harvard took the set 25-15.

Sacred Heart entered the third set with a greater fire — but not enough to spark a comeback. The Pioneers continued to tool and find gaps in Harvard’s blocks to tie the score at 8-8.

Sacred Heart was unable to get a strong service run going until the end of the third set. But the Pioneers were again plagued by their earlier mistakes and lost the match by way of a missed serve, letting Harvard win the set 25-20.

Harvard’s success marked the end of another successful conference weekend and brought its conference record to 3-1 as it prepares for Wednesday’s fight against Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at elyse.goncalves@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves.

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