The Harvard men’s volleyball team opened its season by making a statement against some of the top ranked teams in the nation. The Crimson fell just short of making a stronger one Saturday night.

After advancing to the championship game of the Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara, Calif. by finishing first in its pool Friday, Harvard fell to No. 4 Long Beach State, 3-1.

Despite failing to pull off the upset, the Crimson's finish exceeded the expectations of some of its players.

“I honestly thought we were going to come in fifth in our pool and then probably lose that match, so I probably had the lowest expectations you could possibly have,” said junior outside hitter DJ White. “It’s exciting to come out and be able to beat some of these top ranked teams.”

The Harvard offense against Long Beach State was led by White, who had 14 kills throughout the four sets. Not far behind was senior middle blocker Kyle Rehkemper, who contributed 13 kills in the loss. Freshman setter Nick Bendell led the team in assists with 42.

“I think that we have learned a lot and grown a lot just evolving an offense, working with a new freshman setter, and working in a couple of different players,” said junior middle blocker Caleb Zimmick.

The 49ers offense proved difficult to handle, as Long Beach State recorded 66 kills on the night. Offensive leaders for the 49ers were senior outside hitters Tyler Crabb, who had 19 kills, and Dalton Ammerman added 18 of his own. Senior setter Connor Olbright led the game with 55 assists.

Overall, Long Beach State attacked .381 on the night compared to .250 for the Crimson. While each team had 18 attack errors, the 49ers were able to set up far more opportunities on the offensive end.

“They were one of the quickest offenses we have seen so far,” Zimmick said. “Coming into the match we were keying in on … one of their outside attackers who is probably one of the best or second best players in the country. So we kind of focused on that, but then they started beating us in the middle. They ran a very smooth offense.”

Harvard bounced back from a 25-18 loss in the opening set of the match to win the second game, 25-20. But the Crimson could not build on the momentum and dropped the following two sets to settle for the second place title at the tournament.

During the second set, the Crimson ran off five consecutive early points and took an 11-7 lead on a kill by Rehkemper. Long Beach State retaliated to pull within two, but Harvard held its lead and steadily built upon it to even the match score.

“I think after seeing their serve during the first set we were able to respond to that and handle those [serves] better,” Zimmick said. “We got a few timely hits and blocks and won a couple of the longer rallies which helped us gain some momentum to win the second set.”

The 49ers never trailed in the third game, though the Crimson made it interesting by taking three of the last six points before Long Beach State won, 25-19. The fourth and final set was less of a contest, with Harvard falling by a 25-13 margin.

“They were serving really well, which messed us up in the fourth game,” White said. “I would say the first three games we played really well, but we kind of ran out of gas in the final game.”

The weekend saw Harvard defeat two nationally ranked teams and earn a second-place title in a ten-team tournament, and the Crimson players are optimistic for what the future holds.

“Overall, we’ve learned a lot this tournament from playing some of the best teams in the nation,” Zimmick said. “We played with [Long Beach State] for most of the match. It’s always challenging playing teams with such fast offenses, but I think that’s something we can definitely work on.”

“Beating ranked teams like Stanford [on Friday] and staying close with Long Beach State makes us excited for what is still in store for us this season,” White added.

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.