Sandra Lynne Fryhofer tallied eight kills against the Crusaders (Gil Talbot).

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Harvard women's volleyball team topped 20 points in every set but dropped a tight 3-0 decision to non-conference foe Holy Cross Tuesday night. The Crimson falls to 2-6 on the season while the Crusaders improve to 5-8.

The two teams played nip and tuck through the opening set as the score was tied 11 times in the first stanza. At 23-23, the Crusaders came through with two timely kills to capture the first set 25-23. Harvard put together a 10-1 run early in the second set to grab an 11-4 lead, but the hosts responded with a 10-2 run of their own, squaring the score at 17 apiece. From there, a series of Holy Cross kills propelled the Crusaders to a 25-20 set win, their biggest margin of victory in a set on the evening.

The teams stayed close throughout the final set but the Crimson failed to close out the set despite being up 25-24. Anne Carroll Ingersoll recorded a kill to push the score to 26-25, but the hosts wrestled the final three points from the Crimson to close out the match with a 28-26 set win.

Taylor Docter led the Crimson with 10 kills and added 12 digs while Christine Wu added a team-best 16 digs. Sandra Lynne Fryhofer and Mikaelle Comrie each had eight kills on the night. Megan Lynch led all hitters with 15 kills for the Crusaders and Kathleen Colpoys chipped in 10 in the win. Chelsey O'Donnell recorded 35 assists on the evening.

Up next for Harvard is the Northwestern Invitational Sept. 17-18, where the Crimson will face off against Marquette, Charlotte and host Northwestern.