Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Freshmen Masina Ogbechie and Kayla Nwabueze both hit over .400 and senior Ryleigh Patterson hit over .500 as Harvard women's volleyball (2-0) came back to defeat Holy Cross (2-5) 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-15) inside the Malkin Athletic Center on Saturday night. 
 

How it Happened

Harvard took the first two points after kills from Rossi and Farquhar, but the teams each kept scoring tight, tying five times until the Crimson led 10-9 and on a 4-0 run at the first timeout. Points were traded before Holy Cross went on a 5-0 scoring run to pull ahead 20-16 and forcing Harvard to take a timeout. The Crimson tried to battle back but ultimately fell short to end the set 25-18 for the Crusaders.
 
Harvard got out to a commanding 7-3 lead to start the second set before Holy Cross took its first timeout. The Crusaders climbed back within reach down 10-9, and the teams traded 3-0 runs until Holy Cross grabbed the lead at 16-15. Nwabueze tabbed kills and Bennett Trubey added a solo block to put Harvard up 20-19. The Crimson capitalized on errors from the Crusaders and went on a 4-0 run, highlighted by kills from Farquhar and Rossi, to win the set 25-22. 
 
Points bounced around to start the third set until the Crimson logged eight unanswered points to gain a 16-10 lead. Holy Cross used a 4-0 run to put the score at 19-17 in favor of Harvard. With the Crusaders closing in, Rossi and Masina Ogbechie added kills while Sophia Wei served an ace to give the Crimson set point at 24-20. Farquhar stuffed a solo block to win the set 25-20 for Harvard. 
 
An error from Holy Cross gave the Crimson its first point in the fourth set, but the Crusaders grabbed the next two points on kills. Harvard found its rhythm, pulling out to an 11-5 lead when Holy Cross burned its first timeout. The Crusaders grabbed a couple points, but the Crimson stayed in front and took its largest lead at 22-10 after a kill from Farquhar. Holy Cross staved off the end of the set for three points, but Farquhar's 12th kill finished out the match with a 25-14 set win. 
 

Harvard Highlights

• Harvard finished the match with 49 kills, 41 digs, 9.0 total blocks, and seven service aces. Holy Cross posted 48 kills, 45 digs, 8.0 total blocks, and seven aces.
• Senior Ali Farquhar hit .233 with 12 kills on 30 swings, adding three solo blocks and three block assists on the night.
• Senior Ryleigh Patterson hit at a match-high .562 clip with 10 kills on 16 attacks, while also serving one ace and stuffing four blocks.
• Ogbechie hit .467 (8-1-15) and Nwabueze hit .417 (7-2-12) during the match. Sophomore Sofia Rossi tabbed 11 kills, nine digs, two aces, and one block. 
• Setters Sophia Wei and Catlin Shao logged 27 and 11 assists, respectively, with one ace and five digs apiece. Freshman Jordan Shelor served the other two aces of the game.

Next Up

Harvard will close out the weekend with a 2 p.m. Sunday match against Northeastern. The Crimson and the Huskies will play at the Cabot Center, and the match can be streamed on FloSports.