After a prolonged break from competitive gameplay due to the cancellation of the Central State University game, the Harvard men’s volleyball team shook off the dust in a three-set sweep of the Merrimack Warriors before being swept by No. 8 Brigham Young University at home in the Harvard Invitational.
The Crimson (2-6) took the court for its first official game in three weeks on Friday against Merrimack (1-5). Harvard did partake in an exhibition bout against MIT during the break that resulted in a shocking loss to the DIII opponent. Shaky passing and serve receive halted any offensive rhythm for the Crimson, driving Harvard to improve before diving back into its regular campaign.
“It was definitely a focus in practice to work a lot on serve receive,” said junior outside Quinn Bishop. “We definitely improved our serve receive tenfold from that scrimmage, and it was a good kind of eye opener to the season up ahead.”
The Crimson showed growth during the sweep of the Warriors and built upon that growth, despite the straight set loss, against BYU (8-2).
Harvard 3, Merrimack 0
Junior setter Adrain Shevchuk returned to the starting lineup for Harvard and wasted no time rekindling his connection with his roommate, junior middle Owen Woolbert, for the Crimson’s first kill.
Early errors, including seven from the service line, by Harvard kept the Warriors in the set early. Despite the mishaps, the Crimson still led 15-12 midway through the first set.
Harvard cleaned up its play from there and closed the set on a 10-3 run with kills from four different Crimson players and punctuated by an over-in-two kill by Shevchuck.
Harvard carried its momentum into the second set. A 5-1 run to start the set began with a kill by co-captain Brian Thomas and was punctuated with a kill from sophomore outside Sawyer Nichols.
After struggling with inconsistency so far this season, co-captain Zach Berty and Bishop both came alive in the second set. The pair filled the stat sheet with kills, blocks, and service aces. Bishop ended the game with his most kills and highest attacking percentage of the season at 10 and 0.381, respectively.
Consistent domination by the Crimson grew the lead throughout the set as Harvard took the second set 25-15.
Three early errors by the Warriors and a service ace from Berty appeared to pave the way for a clean sweep for Harvard, but Merrimack fought back to make the third set the most competitive of the night.
The Warriors found offensive rhythm for the first time all game in the third set and rode that rhythm to a 23-19 advantage late in the set.
The Crimson promptly dashed all hopes for Merrimack. Woolbert and Bishop combined to power a 7-1 run for Harvard to close the set and match. Woolbert tallied three kills and combined on a block with Bishop, who added a kill of his own. An attacking error by the Warriors closed the set 26-24 for the Crimson.
Harvard 0, BYU 3
Harvard faced a daunting task when it took to the floor of the Malkin Athletic Center on Saturday night. Entering the game, the BYU Cougars had only dropped six sets all year, all coming against undefeated No. 5 UC Irvine. While the Crimson was unable to change that statistic, Harvard competed fiercely against the Cougars.
The Crimson appeared to be in trouble to start the match. The size and athleticism of BYU looked to be too much as junior outside/opposite Teilon-Jonathan Tufuga rained terror on Harvard from the back line.
But, Harvard quickly settled in as the Cougars couldn’t handle Shevchuck’s first serve of the day and misjudged his second as it nicked the line for back-to-back aces that gave Harvard life. The Crimson managed to cut the BYU lead down to one multiple times, the first coming off a 5-0 run powered by Bishop’s devastating serve.
Harvard hung tight, pushing the set to 21-22, but the class of the Cougars won out to narrowly pull off a 25-22 first set win.
The second set contained thrilling, high-pressure volleyball as well as the Crimson’s best play of the season.
Shevchuk continued his tradition of setting middles early, getting the set started with a kill from Thomas. Thomas followed it up with a combo block with Nichols on the next point to give Harvard an early lead.
BYU used strong play from Tufuga and senior outside Trent Moser to regain the advantage over the Crimson, 9-6.
Kills from Berty and Nichols knotted the score at 9 and, after a lone point for the Cougars, three more points for Harvard created a 12-10 advantage for the Crimson.
BYU continued to prove its top 10 prowess throughout the set as it quickly became a back-and-forth affair. Tied at 18, the Crimson won what would be one of the best points of the match. A powerful kill by the Cougars appeared to win them the point as it careened off the desperate dig attempt by Woolbert towards the benches. However, both teams appeared to be stunned as Shevchuk rose toward the net and redirected the ball at the unsuspecting Cougar defense, winning the point.
Harvard survived double-set-point moments later as a Nichols kill and combo block with Woolbert deadlocked the set at 24.
The Crimson survived three more set points, aided by two BYU service errors. Harvard, however, would not survive the fifth set point. Down 28-27, the Crimson appeared to survive yet again as a sharp-angled attack by Thomas was originally ruled to catch the line, but, after a lengthy review prompted by a Cougar challenge, the call was overturned. BYU claimed the point and the set after a hard-fought battle.
After expending massive amounts of energy prolonging the second set, Harvard appeared out of gas to start the third. The Cougars battened down the hatches after scares in the first two sets, dominating the third set from the start.
BYU led by as much as 11 in the set, but a five-point run for the Crimson, led by Bishop’s serves and Berty’s kills, brought some intrigue back to the set. Ultimately, the Cougars proved too talented for Harvard to mount a successful comeback, and BYU claimed the final set 25-19.
“I think that we gave a great job with our energy,” said Bishop regarding the BYU game. “Intensity is really important against these good teams.”
Maintaining that level of intensity will be paramount for the Crimson as it enters EIVA play. Harvard returns to the MAC next weekend for its first EIVA games of the season against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The games will be held on Fri., Feb. 13, at 7:00 p.m. and Sat. Feb. 14, at 5:00 p.m. The contests will also be streamed on ESPN+.
—Staff Writer Reed M. Trimble can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ReedTrimble1.