“We returned to California for the first time in 10 years and played great games,” he said. “We were up and competitive in other games that we should have had.”

“The season highlight was definitely taking a set from USC, who at the time was No. 1 in the nation,” Jansma added.

Harvard’s season ended on a high note, as the Crimson took down a league rival, NJIT, in its last stance at home.

“The last game of the season—getting that one league victory—was huge,” Jones said.

“It felt fantastic,” Jansma added. “Not many teams can say they ended their season on a victory. It’s great to go into the offseason and next year on a positive note.”

The Crimson will graduate just one senior, Shaun Mansour, and will have the same core group of players to build upon next year.

“Of course we want to improve our record, but more specifically, we want to be a little bit tougher,” Jones said. “Not only tough on every rep, but starting today through next year to go as hard as we can and stay as focused as we can.”

“Our first goal for next year is figuring out how to compete,” Baise said. “I think we are going to see a lot of the struggles of this year pay off.”

—Staff writer Emily Rutter can be reached at erutter@college.harvard.edu.