A week after falling to Springfield in a tortuous tiebreaker, the Harvard men’s volleyball team returned to campus for the start of EIVA conference play.

There was not much comfort in this homecoming: On Friday night, the Crimson hosted No. 7 Penn State, winner of 17 straight league titles, and on Saturday night, it hosted No. 15 St. Francis.

Exactly half of this competition went according to plan. In a sweep loss to the Nittany Lions (7-2, 2-0 EIVA), Harvard played perhaps its worst volleyball of the season, while in a sweep win over the Red Flash (5-6, 0-3), the team played perhaps its best.

HARVARD 3, NO. 15 ST. FRANCIS 0

“Branden [Clemens] was virtually unstoppable tonight,” Crimson coach Brian Baise said. “He’s been that way all season.”

Indeed, facing an 0-2 start to conference play, captain and outside hitter Clemens put on a remarkable performance, leading all players with 19 kills and a .708 blocking percentage.

He received help from several teammates, especially sophomore outside hitter Brad Gretsch (13 finishes), and Harvard (4-5, 1-1 EIVA)cruised to a 3-0 triumph while hitting .494.

In the second set, however,that result threatened to unravel.

The Crimson clung to a 22-21 lead when junior outside hitter Casey White smashed a serve into the net and yelled out a curse. Two points later, freshman middle blocker Trevor Dow repeated the mistake—albeit more quietly—to knot the match at 23-23.

Clemens and sophomore setter Marko Kostich averted the disaster with back-to-back kills, claiming the set and the momentum.

The same duo was hard at work in the third game, as Clemens put up seven finishes and Kostich recorded 18 assists. A mid-frame 5-1 run gave the hosts breathing room, and Harvard hung on for a 25-20 victory.

Sophomore outside hitter Brandon Buck led St. Francis with 13 finishes, but he could not prevent the Red Flash from dropping to the league cellar after its third EIVA loss.

The Crimson’s domination began early in the night, as the hosts raced to an 11-5 lead. That quick start culminated in a 25-19 game win.

“We came out wanting to fight,” Clemens said. “Getting swept by Penn State will definitely get some fire in your belly.”

HARVARD 0, NO. 7 PENN STATE