The barrage of attacking did not let up, and Harvard cruised to an overall .525 hitting efficiency and a 3-0 home victory in the first match of the weekend.

‘We came out hard and fast,” Zimmick said. “It’s reinforcing to play well and then be loud. And then when you’re loud and happy and up, you’re playing well.”

The Crimson faced exactly two deficits, a pair of 2-1 holes at the starts of the first and third sets. In both cases, Harvard responded with multi-point runs that tabled any thoughts of close competition.

Junior outside hitter Branden Clemens finished with a double-double, and Zimmick topped all players with four blocks.

During the contest, the Crimson put together three separate 5-0 runs, including a pair in the third set that helped Harvard finish the match with a 12-point lead, its largest of the night.

The Crimson opened the second set with similar intensity, earning six of the first seven points. St. Francis didn’t come much closer as Harvard earned a 25-15 set win.

Serving was a major reason for this success. The Crimson committed eight service errors but also racked up seven aces, an indication of increased serving aggression.

Two of Harvard’s aces came in the first frame, when the Crimson hit to a .625 killing percentage while limiting the Red Flash to a .037 mark. 

“It’s been a couple of weeks now where both in practice and in play, we’ve just been really sharp,” Baise said. “That’s the game we like to play.”

 —Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sdanello@college.harvard.edu