Part of Harvard’s success on Saturday came from the team’s scouting and film session, which immediately paid off in the game.

“We scouted them pretty intensely, so we knew the tendency of the hitters,” Madden said. “The middles were really on top of their stuff; they were able to get out and close the blocks.”

Gibbons agreed, saying the preparation made the defensive game plan easier to execute.

“We knew where different hitters of theirs like to hit, and our defenders were able to pick up a lot of their swings,” Gibbons said. “We were able to slow their offense down and allow our offense to pick up, so we were able to execute what [Harvard] coach [Brian] Baise wanted us to do.”

In its four conference games so far this season, the Crimson has only played 12 sets, either winning or losing all four times in straight sets.

Madden believes it is indicative of the quality in the league and knows how important it is to stay in the top half of the EIVA.

“There is definitely a discrepancy in the league between the top couple of teams and the bottom couple,” Madden said. “We’ll be playing many of these teams again.... Hopefully, we can get some wins and end up with only two or three league losses.”

—Staff writer Peter G. Cornick can be reached at pcornick@college.harvard.edu.