HARVARD 3, YALE 2
In what will be remembered as a season highlight for the young Crimson team, Friday night’s victory against Yale marked a moment of redemption for a Harvard squad that had been soundly defeated by the Bulldogs in the programs’ last matchup on October 14.
In that game, Yale (15-6, 9-3 Ivy) easily handled the Crimson, 3-1, to retain the top position in the league. In Friday night’s contest, the Bulldogs still hung on to their position on top of the Ivy League leaderboard despite the defeat but were humbled by a hungry Harvard team.
In front of an impressive crowd of over 1,200 fans at the Lee Amphitheater, the Crimson’s lead players delivered in a balanced attack. Kebe, Meyer, and Roberts Burbank each had double-digit kill marks. Additionally, five players tallied more than 11 digs each in the contest—sophomore setter Erin McCarthy led the team in that category with 20 digs.
“We definitely had our strongest mental game of the season,” Meyer said. “They had a very large home crowd and it was their last home weekend, so we definitely had that pressure of playing against a large crowd. We took hold of that and created our own momentum.”
All five sets, including the tiebreaker, were decided by four points or fewer. Harvard jumped out to an early advantage with a 25-21 first set victory, establishing a quick 8-2 lead and never letting go. Kebe stepped up to replace regular starter Mindie Mabry and capped off a strong first period performance with a kill to finish off the set.
The second and third stanzas were again hard-fought, evenly-matched frames, but a combined 30 kills were enough for Yale to come away with 25-21 victories in both sets.
The game’s thrilling peak, however, came in the final two periods. Both sets could have gone either way, with each frame decided in extra points. The Crimson held its ground with a 26-24 victory in the fourth set and finished the game in resounding fashion after it extended a typical 15-point tiebreaker to 20 points, winning 20-18 to seal the upset.
—Staff writer Henry Zhu can be reached at henry.zhu@thecrimson.com.