FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Harvard men's volleyball team dropped its opening match of the 2018 season tonight to Fort Wayne, 3-1. The loss came by set scores of 25-21, 22-25, 17-25 and 19-25.

Harvard (0-1) was led by Brad Gretsch and Matthew Ctvrtlik on attack with 15 and 9 kills, respectively. Senior Marko Kostich led the team in assists tallying 30, while Ctvrlik added 17. Riley Moore contributed four blocks and Chase Howard added 17 digs for the Crimson.

Set One: 

• Both teams went back and forth trading off points throughout the first half of the set
• Harvard began to pull away at the 21st point, scoring four points consecutively off of three kills and a setting error
• Gretsch sealed the set, 25-21, with a kill and assist from Kostich
• The Crimson captured a .517 hitting percentage this set 

Set Two:

• Set two proved to be another nail biter as the teams went point for point throughout much of the match
• Fort Wayne ultimately pulled away at the 22nd point, notching five kills in a row to win 25-22
• The score would tie nine times throughout the set

Set Three:

• Harvard had a fast start in the third set, recording the first three points all on attacking errors by Fort Wayne
• Fort Wayne went on a 5-0 run midway through the set to jump ahead 13-6
• The Crimson slowly chipped back at the Mastadon's lead with a kill from Gretsch making the score 22-16
• Fort Wayne capitalized on nine attacking errors by the Crimson, taking the set 25-17

Set Four

• The Crimson opened the fourth set in similar fashion, exchanging the first five points before Pelegrin Vargas recorded a kill for Fort Wayne
• Despite Kostich leading the charge for Harvard recording five kills, the Mastodons sealed the match, winning this set 24-19

What's Next
Harvard is back in action tomorrow night against No. 15 Ball State at 7:30 p.m.