Matt Jones lead the Crimson with 40 kills this season (photo
courtesy Gil Talbot).
The Particulars
The Harvard men's volleyball team will host Cambridge
neighbor MIT Saturday evening. The Engineers, currently ranked
seventh in the AVCA Division III poll, enter the contest with a
10-1 record.
Scouting the Crimson
Harvard will be looking to rebound from its first loss of the
season after falling to AVCA NAIA No. 1 Cal Baptist, 3-0.
The Crimson had its worst attacking night of the season against the
Lancers, committing more errors than kills in the first two sets
and finishing with only a .031 attack percentage Thursday
evening.
Freshman Kyle Rehkemper was a bright spot for the Crimson, landing
six kills for an attack percentage of .455.
Harvard will seek to attack as it did in the first two matches of
the season against Newbury and Endicott, converting .272 and .226
percent of its attacks.
Scouting The Engineers
With eight more matches under their belt than the Crimson, the
Engineers will be the more seasoned squad in this matchup. MIT is
10-1 this season and is the seventh-ranked team in the AVCA
Division III poll.
The Engineers' lone loss came during the New Paltz State
Hawks tournament to the host, 3-2. MIT won its final match of that
tournament over Emmamuel and will enter the match against
Harvard on a three-match win steak adding wins against
Emerson and Southern Vermont.
The Engineers have done well this season spreading out the scoring
as four players average more than two kills per set. Matt
Hohenberger averages 3.93 kills per set, while Ken Siebert (3.36),
Malcolm Bean (2.25) and Patrick Vatterott (2.19) are close
behind.
Ace in the Hole
Derek Jansma and Kyle Rehkemper pace the Crimson with five service
aces apiece this season. Harvard has 17 services aces as a team
through its first three matches.
Good For Three
Matt Jones is averaging 3.64 kills per set through the first 11
sets of the season to lead the Crimson. Jones also paces the
Crimson in points per set, notching 4.5, and is tied for the
team-lead with 13 digs.
Up Next
The Crimson will play its first Wednesday night match of the season
when it hosts Rivier Feb. 9. It will be Harvard's fifth
straight home match to begin 2011.
