CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's volleyball (2-4, 0-0 EIVA) cruised to a, 3-0, shutout victory over Merrimack College (2-6, 0-0 NEC) this evening in the Malkin Athletic Center.
Continuing on its eight-game home stand the Crimson began the night in a back-and-forth first set with the Warriors. Midway through the set, the Warriors were able to pull out to two or three point leads on a trio of occasions but Harvard responded to each run. Ultimately with the set tied at 23-23 following a kill from
Owen Fanning, a service error and a Crimson triple block secured the opening set victory.
A slight edge in hitting percentage with Harvard registering .250 helped create the small distance between the two squads and give the Crimson the early lead.
Harvard looked to be building momentum in the second set as they quickly jumped out to a 8-4 lead forcing a Warriors timeout. While Merrimack began to draw closer coming out of the break and even tied the set on multiple occasions, the Crimson still never trailed. With the set tied at 14-14, Harvard created distance with a 6-1 run aided by strong defensive stands and a
Zach Berty kill.
The Crimson brought the set to a close and pulled within a point of the match victory after a
James Bardin slam forced set point. Harvard once again held the hitting percentage advantage with .227 in the second set to the Warriors .053.
With each set, Harvard's dominance over Merrimack grew, eventually closing the match with a 25-16 decision in the third set. The Warriors were able to stay in the set until a 5-1 Crimson run put the match seemingly out of reach.
With the third set at 9-7 the Crimson closed play by outscoring the Warriors 16-8.
Trevor Schultz closed out his already strong match with a pair of kills to force match point and a Warriors serve error solidified the victory.
Harvard Highlights
- Logan Shepherd led all Crimson players with 11 kills on the night with a hitting percentage of .240.
- Trever Schultz had a strong showing against the Warriors by registering the second most kills with seven on 12 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .500.
- James Bardin and Owen Fanning each tallied six kills to contribute to the team's total of 35 on the night.
- Shepherd, Fanning, and Bardin each added six digs to their strong all-around performances.
- As a team the Crimson registered a .263 hitting percentage throughout the match to best the Warriors .101. The team's percentage was its second highest of the season trailing only its .270 performance against CSUN earlier this year.
- Harvard registered 9.5 total blocks to the Warriors 4.0 and were led by first year Owen Woolbert who assisted on four crucial denials throughout the contest.
Next Up
The Crimson will return to action tomorrow night to face off against Lincoln Memorial. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m. in the Malkin Athletic Center and on ESPN+.
