In the first frame, it was the Tigers who defended well, forcing Harvard to commit eight attack errors. This trend continued into the second game, with the Crimson hitting a feeble .024, a by-product of its 10 attack errors.

“We lost the first two games because of our own errors,” co-captain Kim Gould said. “We weren’t passing very well; we made a lot of errors that we could have controlled.”

Fatigue may have been a factor in Harvard’s loss. After going a full five frames against the Quakers, the Crimson was pushed to the limit for the third match in a row.

Katie Turley-Molony led the offense down the stretch, recording a match-high 20 kills.

“We had a great attack from the right side,” Ogbechie said. “Katie is an extremely intense and very versatile player.”

The co-captain chipped in with 16 kills and 17 digs.

HARVARD 3, PENN 2

There’s nothing sweeter than the sound of silence—especially in a gym full of obnoxious Penn fans.

After three consecutive years of losing at The Palestra, Harvard rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Quakers 3-2 (30-27, 28-30, 28-30, 30-25, 15-8).

“It was a really emotional win because every year [Penn] has been such a roadblock for us,” Schweitzer said. “Their gym is so big, there were so many fans there, and they were so loud—to beat them in their home gym was amazing.”

“There are tons of obnoxious fans,” Ogbechie added. “We did our job of blocking it all out. We shut down the Penn ego.”

The win extended the Crimson’s unbeaten Ivy streak to five matches while delivering a huge blow to the slumping Quakers (8-7, 2-3).

“We all really, really wanted it,” Gould said. “We’ve had a long-standing rivalry with Penn, and even the freshmen know about it. It’s exciting to be able to put a match like that away.”

Ogbechie led the team offensively, posting a match-high 29 kills to go along with seven digs.

“Kaego really stepped up against Penn,” Gould said. “She always generates so much energy from everyone else. Her stepping it up like that has a huge effect on the rest of us.”