“It was tough to play them at Yale because they had a lot of fans that were really obnoxious,” said senior outside hitter Nilly Schweitzer.
The match in New Haven was largely an offensive battle, with both teams hitting above .200 for the entirety of the match. Four Bulldogs registered double-digit kills on the night, and the Crimson faltered against a high-powered offense.
For Harvard to succeed on Saturday, it will have to contain Yale’s two dominant outside hitters. Freshman Kali Nelson and senior Jana Freeman—who pestered the Crimson in their last matchup—had solid efforts against Brown on Wednesday, posting 26 and 20 kills, respectively, and they will pose a significant threat at the net this weekend.
“Both players are definitely very good,” Ogbechie said. “But regardless of the player, there’s always an opportunity for our blockers to shut them down—and that’s what our plan is.”
But the Bulldogs will have to defend against the Crimson’s ferocious attack as well. Harvard leads the league in team hitting percentage—due greatly to the contribution of Ogbechie, who is second in the league in individual hitting percentage.
“This time around, I think that [the winner is] going to be the team that wants to play the hardest,” Ogbechie said.
THE GAME, PART DEUX
When students and alumni file out of Harvard Stadium late Saturday afternoon, the volleyball squad will just be starting their pre-game warm-up.
Instead of settling down to several hours of food, drink, and mocking of the Yale faithful, the Crimson players will spend their afternoon preparing for one of the most important matches of their collegiate careers.
One thing’s for sure—they’re far from disappointed.
“It’s a tiny bit of a bummer,” Schweitzer said. “But there’s nothing I’d rather do than play and have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament.”
And don’t try to tell any volleyball players that they’ll be missing The Game. Because as far as they’re concerned, there is no bigger game than the one they’ll be playing.
“We have our own big game,” Ogbechie said. “We have our own Harvard-Yale.”