Despite entering Saturday having won eight of its last nine games, the Harvard men's volleyball team fell to first-place Penn State at the Malkin Athletic Center, 3-1.

The Harvard men’s volleyball team entered this weekend with a three-match winning streak and a hold on second place in the EIVA. Despite dispatching St. Francis in straight sets on Saturday, the run of recent success came to a jolting halt on Sunday with a 3-1 defeat against league-leading Penn State at the Malkin Athletic Center.

“I feel really good [about] where we are,” Crimson coach Brian Baise said. “I think it’s one of the hardest-working teams we’ve had in quite some time, and that makes a difference.”

PENN STATE 3, HARVARD 1

For 11 points in the fourth set of Harvard’s home contest against the Nittany Lions (6-9, 4-0 EIVA), a volleyball match became a game of tug-of-war.

Between a 17-17 deadlock and a 23-22 Penn State lead, the two teams traded every point, maintaining the suspense of whether the Crimson (9-5, 3-2) could force a fifth set.

But it was the visitors who gave the decisive tug. By stringing together three consecutive kills, the Nittany Lions grabbed the match and remained unbeaten in EIVA play.   

“We need to improve our passing and our right-side defense,” White said. “Overall, we played pretty well, but they’re definitely a special team.”

Harvard had to battle back even to reach this contested stalemate, as the Crimson erased a 12-7 advantage before finally capitulating.

White notched 14 finishes on a .444 hitting percentage, but even this outburst could not match the visitors’ senior outside hitter Nick Goodell, who ended with 25 kills. 

“He kept beating us crosscourt, so we moved one of our defenders over there,” Baise said. “Like any great player, he started hitting it where our guys weren’t.”

Goodell racked up four kills in the second set as the hosts used a 10-2 stretch to claim a 25-14 set win. Despite going down 14-9 in the third game, Penn State surged back to beat Harvard 25-23 thanks to another five finishes from Goodell. 

In the first frame, however, neither Goodell nor a controversial point reversal could prevent the Crimson from widening a 21-19 lead into a 25-21 set win.

“We weren’t as sharp as we had been in the last couple of weeks, although we fought hard,” Baise said. “I thought there were two pretty equal teams out there.”

HARVARD 3, ST. FRANCIS 0

Ten kills, zero errors. That’s how the stat sheet read after one set of play against the Red Flash (2-13, 1-2).

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