“Taylor lit it up on Friday,” Wu said. “She really shined when we needed her. She stepped up and stepped into a leadership position.”

But Brown answered with a strong rally in the third set. After tying it up at nine apiece, freshman Emma Pastore and sophomore Katrina Post carried the Bears to a 25-19 win.

The crew carried its momentum into the fourth frame as well. The Crimson closed the gap and came within a point of its opponent at 21-20, but Brown, hitting at .216 to Harvard’s .171, evened the match at two-all with a 25-21 victory.

Playing for the win, both teams seemed relentless as the fifth set progressed. Neither team won more than two points at a time, as the score knotted itself at three, four, six, seven, eight, 10, 11, and 13 points apiece.

After a Crimson timeout, it was Docter who sealed the Bears’ fate.

Hitting .432 on the evening, Docter put away two consecutive kills at net to push Harvard to victory.

“Taylor had a spectacular showing,” Skelly said. “[She] was able to fire up our team and keep us motivated.”

On top of Docter’s standout performance, other Crimson athletes had solid nights as well.

Sophomore Jennifer Martin registered 10 kills hitting outside, and junior middle hitter Sandra Lynne Fryhofer chipped in nine. Kinsella added 41 assists and Wu also chipped in 29 digs—good for best on the team.

—Staff writer Molly E. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@college.harvard.edu.