“Wu, as always, has amazing defense,” Docter said. “We all love her to death.”

HARVARD 3, COLUMBIA 2

In front of a packed crowd, the Crimson squared off against visiting Columbia (9-4, 1-2) on Friday. Early on, the match seemed to be headed in a familiar direction for Harvard, as the host team dropped the first two sets, 25-19.

Then, finally, after a season full of frustration, things fell into place.

“Our team just started clicking—it just started gelling,” Wu said. “Everyone just started playing lights-out, all heart and soul and passion, and it just felt so good.”

After taking the third set, 25-19, the Crimson and the Lions faced off in what became a marathon set. As the game came down to the wire, the teams traded points until the score was tied at 29-29.

Finally, Harvard broke through. After sophomore setter Beth Kinsella earned a crucial kill, the Crimson grabbed the ensuing point, winning the fourth set and evening the match at two games each.

Harvard then closed the door on Columbia, squelching a late Lion comeback to take the final set, 15-12.

“[Friday’s] match was great,” Weiss said. “We showed a lot of heart and a lot of character in that one.”

Docter’s play was instrumental in the team’s victory. Tallying a team-leading 17 kills, the sophomore had a .441 hitting percentage.

“[Docter] played fantastic,” Wu said. “She really stepped it up. She’s been working hard in practice, and that’s obviously showing here in games.”

“That’s the Taylor I know,” Weiss added.

But the real sparkplug for the Crimson was Kinsella, who accounted for 44 of the team’s 56 assists. Her 256 assists this year lead the team.

“Beth, our setter, had one of the best games she’s ever played,” Docter said. “It just turned into such a dynamic system after the third game, and Beth started running a really fast offense.”

It was this change in pace that completely shifted the game’s momentum.

“It wasn’t going fast in the beginning,” Weiss said. “We were kind of sitting back, and then we started going fast, and we broke their defense down...We got it going finally.”