Game three was another nail-biter.

The home team displayed its cohesion with an ability to score even out of system. Sophomore setter Rob Lothman made a crucial dig, allowing Gibbons the opportunity to feed Jones for a kill early on.

Each team constantly struggled for points, exchanging leads until another tie at 17-17, when the Eagles snatched the advantage away from Harvard. Again, the Crimson called a time-out hoping for a turnaround down 20-17.

Harvard exited the time-out with an aggressive charge, including clutch kills by Gibbons and Rehkemper, which brought the home team within a point at 22-21.

Yet Juniata found harmony between its offense and defense to close the game, 25-22.

The Crimson came into game four fighting for its life.

Early on, plays like the pass, set, kill combination by junior co-captain and libero Dan Schreff, Lothman, and Jones set the tone for the set.

Back-to-back aces by Gibbons had the stands rumbling and kept the Harvard momentum rolling.

As the game progressed, though, the Crimson lagged behind and found itself behind, 22-17.

Coming out of the timeout, Harvard made a scoring push, shrinking the Juniata lead to three points, but the Eagles held on to take the game, 25-22, and with it, the match.

“It hurt to lose this one—it felt like it was ours to win,” Baise said. “But we got progressively worse; in the fourth game, we ended up attacking at zero, and you can’t win a volleyball game like that.”

Despite the final result, the Crimson made significant improvements from its first matchup against Juniata, when it lost in three games by a larger margin.

A number of Harvard individuals also performed well, including middle blocker Madden, who hit .533 with eight kills, made no errors, and picked up five digs.