February 25, 2012
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Harvard Men's Volleyball Finishes Homestand With Win Over Sacred Heart

Final 1 2 3 4 5 T
Sacred Heart (4-11, 1-6) 22 17 22 0
Harvard (9-2, 3-2) 25 25 25 3
Sacred HeartHarvard
K: HUNT, Nick - 9
B: 4 Players (#8, #9, #17, #19 - 2)
D: HUNT, Nick - 6
SA: MACKENZIE, Enzo - 3
K: Nick Madden - 14
B: 2 Players (#10, #16 - 4)
D: Dj White - 6
SA: Matt Jones - 2
TEAM STATISTICS Sacred HeartHarvard
Hitting % .061 .323
Blocks 5.0 7.0
Digs 11 21
Aces 9 5
full stats

Madden (left) Zimmick (middle) and White (right) have all played large roles in the Crimson's best start (9-2) since 1993. (Gil Talbot)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Harvard men's volleyball team recorded its ninth win of the year, defeating Sacred Heart, 3-0, Saturday afternoon. The Crimson was led by sophomore Nick Madden who recorded 14 kills, helping the team to improve to 9-2, and 3-2 in the EIVA.

Harvard held a slim 10-7 lead through the beginning of the first set, with Madden, freshmen Caleb Zimmick and DJ White and sophomore Will Chambers all producing kills for the Crimson. A Chambers' service error, kill from Will LeClerc and an attack error by Madden knotted the score at 10-10. The two squads traded points as a service error by LeClerc evened it back up at 17-17. The Pioneers began to pull away toward the latter portion of the set, as three straight points helped give Sacred Heart a 21-18 lead, forcing a Crimson timeout. The breather proved to be effective as a John Lutjen service error led to a string of five-straight Harvard points, sparked by the serving of junior Derek Jansma, who recorded a service ace, along with the attack of Madden, who recorded a kill. Harvard pushed the score to 24-21 before a service error, cut the lead to two, but White slammed down a kill to end the set in Harvard's favor, 25-22
In the second set Harvard jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead on thanks to kills from Madden, Zimmick and Chambers. A run of four-quick points helped the Pioneers close the gap however, pushing the score from 14-6, to 14-10. The Pioneers had trouble gaining traction in their offense game the rest of the way committing five offensive errors, as the Crimson cruised to a second-set victory, 25-17.

Sacred Heart battled out to an early 4-2 advantage with kills from Jason Kinney and Hunt. Harvard evened the score on an attack error by LeClerc, pushing the score to 5-5. With the Crimson leading 8-6 later in the set, Harvard went on a pivotal five-point run as Matt Jones recorded two kills, and Madden and Chambers both contributed with one apiece, pushing the score to 14-7. Harvard ran it to 21-13, but the Pioneers didn't back down, scoring four-straight points pulling them within four, 21-17. Sacred Heart got the deficit down to three points off a service error by Jones, but Harvard was able to escape with the win,  as the team scored three of the next six points, to edge the Pioneers, 25-22, and take the match in three sets.

Madden paced the Crimson with 14 kills, while Jones was second on the team with eight. Lothman had another solid day, distributing 30 assists, while Zimmick had four of the team's 14 blocks. Hunt led the way offensively for Sacred Heart, tallying nine kills, and Lutjen dished out 20 assists for the Pioneers.

Harvard will now prepare for a six-game road swing, beginning with George Mason on March 2, slated for 7 p.m.