But Harvard was unable to convert on either opportunity.

Up 30-29, sophomore Dan Schreff floated a nice serve, but Baruch was able to control the serve and tip it past the Harvard defenders to come away with the point.

Moments later with the Crimson back up 31-30, co-captain Erik Kuld stood behind the service line with the opportunity to even the set total at one-apiece, but his serve would sail long.

The Bearcats took advantage of the swing in momentum, following with two straight points to go up by two sets.

“I thought we played some good defense and I thought we blocked pretty well,” Baise said. “We had a hard time doing those things at the key moments. When it’s 30-all or 28-all, that’s when you really need to make those plays. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Baruch came out strong following the finish of the second set, jumping out to a 12-7 lead. Behind strong hitting from sophomore outside hitter Sequiel Sanchez, who finished with a game-high 19 kills, the Bearcats extended their lead to 25-21.

“[Sanchez] was hard to stop,” Baise said. “We felt with that team we really had to serve well so that they couldn’t get him the ball as much. We only served okay.”

Although the Crimson managed to pull within two points near the end of the third set, Baruch finished the night with a three-point victory to win the match.

“I just feel like closing out is going to be the biggest thing,” Weintraub said. “As soon as we do that, we can start winning matches and take the season where we want it to go.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.