In the second game, the Crimson once again jumped out to a fast 7-3 lead fueled by the scintillating play of freshman middle blocker Juan Carlos Cardet. The 6'5 Puerto Rican native, who inherits both his jersey number (11) and position from former team captain Ed Pankau '00, was impressive at middle blocker by contributing three blocks and eight kills with a solid .385 hit percentage.

"[Cardet] has already proven that he is worthy of a starting position on our team," said junior co-captain Justin Denham. "His block is incredibly imposing, his attacks are devastating both in their placement as well as their power and his court awareness is impressive for a freshman."

In addition to Cardet and Kowell in the middle, the Crimson received stellar play from its outside players. Stevenson's 18 kills complemented his improbable 17 digs. Denham chipped in with a team-high 25 kills and co-captain Justin Micomonaco notched three kills and nine digs on the afternoon.

"The middles hit with impunity especially in transition during the first game," Micomonaco said. "This opened up the outsides to swing, especially Brian who had a stellar game all around."

Although Harvard closed out the second game in relatively easy fashion, the Crimson lost its composure in the third stanza. MIT sophomore Kai McDonald sparked the Engineers to a third game resurgence that put Harvard down 29-20 late in the game.

And that was when things got weird.

After attempting to pursue an errand ball on the opponent's side of the net as per the new "international pursuit rule" approved by the NCAA this year, Bookman had a verbal altercation with MIT outside hitter Dan Roy. After Roy and Bookman had exchanged pleasantries, the officials appeared confused as to how to handle the encounter.