BALL STATE 3, HARVARD 2

The Crimson improved slightly on last season’s effort against the Cardinals, as this year it took the match into five sets. The two foes traded games until trading games was no longer an option, with Ball State ultimately avoiding a zealous Harvard comeback in the fifth game and eking out a victory.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the final set and, after a period of sideout volleyball, were able to extend the margin to four late in the game. With the match seemingly in hand for Ball State, the Crimson rattled off three points to make things very interesting at 14-13. A quick conversion off serve receive snuffed the drama.

“Many times in the fifth game, it’s about who wants it more,” White said. “[Ball State] thought we were going to roll over once it was 14-10, but I was really proud of everyone for the fight they put up.”

Throughout the match, Harvard seemed to rally when it needed to most. Down 2-1 in sets and trying to will the contest to a fifth, the Crimson put down eight balls on 22 attempts without a single hitting slip-up.

Harvard availed itself of the Cardinals’ many service errors, particularly in games two and four in which Ball State recorded eight a piece. The opportunistic Crimson made the opposition pay for these preventable gaffes and nabbed both sets.

The Cardinals’ slew of service mistakes was somewhat predictable, however, on account of their aggressive service game. The visitors ripped seven aces and made siding out an arduous task for their opponents.

“[The Cardinals] were high risk, high reward from the service line,” noted White, a regular serve receiver. “When [the serve] was in, it was putting pressure on us, getting us off the net so we were out of system.”

Ball State’s domination in other areas of the game offset—and even outweighed—its statistical shortcomings from the baseline. The Cardinals won the kills battle 65-45 and thus tallied significantly more assists in the process. Their back row play was likewise commendable, as evidenced by their 48 digs and the Crimson’s struggle to put away points at times.

“I felt like we were hitting some good shots in between the block, over the block, and inside the block,” White said. “[The Cardinals] just seemed to be there every time, which is frustrating…. As the season progresses, we’re going to try to develop new shots…so we’re not so predictable.”

Harvard posted a .306 kill percentage in its back-to-back, a distinct improvement over last weekend’s mark of .164. As in the previous night’s match, White and Johnsson eclipsed the double-digit kills plateau on Friday, while freshman outside hitter Chase Howard assumed a larger role and pitched in a healthy 10 kills, including the first of his young career.

In addition to his 24 kills on the weekend, White played up 28 balls from the back row. His tenacious defensive play this season has him on pace for a career high in digs and a program record for digs in a single season. If White continues to perform at this pace defensively, he will graduate second on Harvard’s all-time career digs list.

—Staff writer Spencer R. Morris can be reached at spencer.morris@thecrimson.com.