Crimson volleyball takes four out of five in successful homestand

Despite starting the season with a 2-4 record, a recent five-game homestand in which the Harvard men’s volleyball team went 4-1 may have been exactly what the doctor ordered for the Crimson.

Harvard desperately needed the long homestand, especially after their Feb. 14 loss to East Stroudsburg University (ESU), in which the Crimson dropped the match in three straight games. The win improved ESU to just a 2-5 record, while Harvard fell to 2-4.

Bent but not broken, the tested Crimson squad appears to have put their early season troubles behind them as they now ride a three-game winning streak and will hit the road to take on Princeton (March 13) and East Stroudsburg (March 14).

The winning streak, which began with a 3-2 victory over the EIVA Hay Division’s first-place team Rutgers-New York on March 6, saw middle blocker and senior captain Brady Weissbourd explode for 28 kills with a .365 attacking percentage. The next night, Harvard defeated the New Jersey Institute of Technology in four games, 3-1, once again behind the monstrous hitting of Weissbourd, who finished the match with 27 kills.

“I’d like to think we’ve turned the corner,” said first-year head coach Brian Baise. “We played really good ball over the weekend.”

The Crimson continued their solid play Tuesday night (March 10), sweeping Endicott with ease, 3-0, and improving the Crimson to a 6-5 record. Freshman outside hitter Matt Jones finished with 13 kills, complementing the play of Weissbourd, who finished with 20 kills. The Crimson captain, who was named the Hay Division Player of the Week for the second time this season, is among the league leaders in kills per game, averaging 5.02, and at times this season has carried the team on his back.

“Brady is the captain; he’s the leader in so many ways. With him out [there] we can get a kill at any point. Whenever we’re down, we make sure we find where he is,” said Baise.

“I think we have confidence right now. I think that’s pretty important. As a team we’re starting to come together,” said outside hitter Soren Rosier ’10. “When you come into the match with confidence, things work out.”