Facing a tough pair of road contests this weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball team came up one game short of maintaining its undefeated record in the Ivy League.

After defeating Penn 3-2 in front of a hostile crowd on Friday night, the Crimson (10-6, 5-1 Ivy) dropped its first league match of the year to Princeton 3-2 on Saturday.

“[Saturday’s loss] was definitely an emotional letdown from Friday,” said senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer.

“It’s a tough loss,” co-captain Kaego Ogbechie added.

While Harvard is no longer undefeated in league play, it remains at the top of the Ancient Eight, leading the Tigers (13-4, 4-1) by half a game as it heads into next weekend’s homestand against Yale and Brown.

“We all learned some important lessons this weekend,” Schweitzer said. “There’s a general sense of wanting to refocus our energy this week in practice. We need to be prepared physically and mentally to take every team.”

PRINCETON 3, HARVARD 2

Heading into the match with a perfect Ivy record, the Crimson rallied from an early 2-0 deficit but fell in the fifth frame in a 3-2 (30-25, 30-19, 26-30, 25-30, 15-8) loss to Princeton.

Hitting only .045 and passing inefficiently in the deciding game, Harvard found it difficult to establish a rhythm. The Tigers jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and held it the rest of the way.

“The fifth game was not particularly how we usually play,” Ogbechie said. “We got in a rut in the start—the first few points set the tone for the game.”

Despite the disappointing nature of the loss, the Harvard players were not discouraged.

“The great thing about the Ivy League is that you play everyone twice,” Ogbechie said. “We’re going to see them again on our home turf. To be able to play them again is a great thing.”

After a shaky performance in the first two frames of the match, the Crimson found its offensive rhythm in game three. The front row executed effectively, contributing significantly to Harvard’s .415 hitting percentage and 22 kills en route to a 30-26 win.

The Crimson carried the momentum into the fourth frame. The defense performed solidly, holding off a strong Princeton effort to take the game 30-25.

“We knew from the start that the game was going to be played with a lot of scrappiness,” Ogbechie said. “In games three and four, we turned on the defense.”