Inconsistency continues to hurt the Harvard men’s volleyball, who split its two games at the Malkin Athletic Center this weekend. The split came on the heels of an loss at Springfield last Thursday.

“The problem, as it has been all season, is consistency,” junior co-captain Mike Bookman said. “We can stay with a team for a while and play them point-for-point but we often make mistakes on plays we shouldn’t.”

Coach Tom Wilson agreed.

“It was the same old story,” he said.

Vassar 3, Harvard 1

Unfortunately for Crimson seniors Isaac Chen and co-captain Justin Denham, yesterday’s loss came in their last career home match at the MAC. The Crimson was defeated after four games against the Vassar Brewers (30-22, 28-30, 35-33, 30-26).

While the result wasn’t what Denham and Chen hoped for on Senior Day, they said it was a competition that they won’t forget.

“It hurts to lose,” Denham said. “But it was memorable.”

The disappointment is perhaps harder to bear because of Crimson’s streaky play.

“They [Vassar] were just more consistent than we were,” Wilson said. “There were stretches when we were playing sensational and then we’d hit four balls in a row out of bounds.”

From the start of yesterday’s match, every point was a battle. Two solo blocks—first from freshman outside hitter Will Reppun, who was back in full swing after an ankle injury, and then from Bookman—increased the team’s energy and lead early in the game.

But after letting a 5-4 advantage slip away, the Crimson (5-8, 3-6 EIVA Hay) would never regain the lead. Instead of building upon the momentum of a good play, Harvard frequently allowed unforced effors to take over the game.

Behind the aggressive serving of Denham, Harvard picked up a couple points late in the game and a Denham back-row kill brought the Crimson within three points of the Brewers.

But two net violations and an unforced hitting error ended the game earlier than the Crimson hoped, 30-22.

The team’s unforced errors returned like a nagging injury at the start of the second game. Five hitting errors in a row allowed Vassar to take a 9-3 lead.