The Harvard men's volleyball team had its cake and ate it, too, this weekend at Vassar, winning three matches en route to the championship of the Burgundy and Gray Invitational.
The tournament was a nice tune-up for the coming week, according to co-captain A.J. Lewis.
"It's actually the first time [this year] we've beat some decent competition," Lewis said. HARVARD 3 USMMA 0 Saturday afternoon, in the tournament final, the Crimson (6-3, 0-1 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) dropped its only game of the weekend, 8-15, in the first game of its match against Eastern Mennonite. "Last year [at the tournament], we only lost one game," Lewis said. "Same scenario this year." The Crimson quickly rebounded from the game, winning the next three games 15-8, 15-6 and 15-3 for a 3-1 match victory. "They couldn't really stop our middle attack," Lewis said. In the match, senior middle blocker Evan Mager performed the rarest of volleyball feats. Mager came up with a triple-double--20 kills, 10 digs and 12 blocks. Co-captain Ed Pankau ended a tremendous match with 16 kills and 21 blocks. Junior outside hitter Joe Herger had 12 kills and 14 digs. Freshman setter Conor Gaughan had 13 digs and a season-high 67 assists. In the Saturday morning semifinals, Harvard defeated host Vassar in three straight games, 15-8, 15-5, 15-6. In the third game of the match, the Crimson quickly fell behind 4-0. But a quick block by Pankau gave Harvard a side out and set the tone for a 7-1 rally, which eventually led to the match victory. "We knew what they had and we blocked the hell out of them," Lewis said. "Our blocking was phenomenal this weekend." Harvard freshman outside hitter Paul Guilianelli led the Crimson with 14 kills, 12 digs and two service aces. Pankau contributed 10 kills and 16 blocks. Friday evening, in the first match of the tournament, the Crimson won easily over the United States Merchant Marine Academy in three straight games, 15-0, 15-7, 15-10. Read more in Sports
