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The Harvard women’s volleyball team (3-8, 2-1 Ivy) maintained its winning conference record in its conference roadtrip to New York. Its odyssey to Ithaca against Cornell (8-5, 3-0) ended on the wrong side of a sweep, but the team regrouped to sweep Columbia (2-11, 0-3) the next day.

Harvard 0, Cornell 3

Harvard entered this early, but potentially pivotal, conference clash with momentum. But the Big Red stole that momentum along with the first set.

The Crimson took the lead to start as Cornell gifted Harvard three early points from the service line. Freshman setter Sophia Wei and freshman outside Bridget Egan added two service aces of their own to open an 11-6 lead. The freshman class has breathed life into a Crimson service game that was all but non-existent last season.

The Big Red began chipping away at this lead by finding holes in Harvard’s defense. Cornell strung together kills to power its run. Holes in the Harvard defense have been hard to find for opponents this season as the team ranks 26th in the nation in blocks per set and is led by sophomore middle Taylor Larkin who ranks sixth in the nation with 1.64 blocks per set.

Cornell briefly took the lead before Harvard tied the set at 18. The race to score seven lost tension quickly when the Big Red scored five of the next six points. The Crimson attempted a late charge but came up short and lost the first set 21-25.

For the first time in the last three games, Harvard faced a set deficit. The Crimson responded well out of the gates, claiming a 4-1 lead.

Cornell erased the Harvard lead and established the rhythm of the set. The Crimson would open a lead before the Big Red answered and tied the set again. The Crimson never fully separated despite leading the majority of the set.

That inability to separate ultimately cost Harvard as Cornell tied the set for the final time at 18. Like the first set, Cornell stepped up in the big moment and went on a giant run. The Big Red’s 7-1 run was only interrupted by a kill by freshman outside Sophia Rossi, who led the team with 11 kills. After a 19-25 second set, Harvard trailed 0-2.

Sensing the moment, Cornell went for the kill early in the third set. Suffocating defense housed the Crimson early in the set and caused repeated errors to open a 5-14 deficit for Harvard.

But the Crimson were not done yet. Rossi combined with junior middle Ryleigh Patterson for an 8-3 run in which Rossi had three kills, Patterson added three more plus a service ace, and Cornell committed a service error to trim the hole to three.

Three was the closest the game got as the Big Red scored four unanswered to claim the set 17-25 and the match 3-0.

Harvard 3 Columbia 0

Looking to salvage the roadtrip, the Crimson arrived at Columbia with something to prove. A dogfight awaited Harvard in the first set as the teams traded blows early.

After an uncharacteristically subpar performance against Cornell, the Crimson’s front line dominated the Lions. Larkin, coming off a quiet performance, was loud in the first set. She participated in three blocks in the first set to begin a game-high five block performance.

Harvard put together its strongest performance from the service line as well. The Crimson found hardwood for two service aces in the first set and owned the line all day to win an 11-2 service ace margin.

Blocks and aces meant the Harvard outsides did not have to contribute as much offensively, but the group still put together a well rounded performance to pull away and win the set 25-16.

Harvard came out for the second set on fire as they looked to bury Columbia early. This set, the outsides set the tone early as Rossi, Patterson, and junior outside Ali Farquhar each contributed kills to give the Crimson an 11-5 lead.

Desperation quickly set in for the Lions and powered them to claw back into the set. An 11-3 run by Columbia turned a Crimson coronation back into a bitter war.

From 19-19 to 22-22, the teams traded points. But unlike the match against Cornell, it would be Harvard that stepped up in the big moment, as a Rossi kill, Egan ace, and Farquhar kill claimed the set for Harvard 25-23. This set was a massive win for a team that has struggled in close sets in recent history.

After a stressful second set, the Crimson removed any cause for doubt in the final set. Harvard consistently scored in bunches throughout the set and never allowed the Lions to gain hope.

The victory put a bow on a strong performance and weekend for Patterson who made her presence known to the entire stat sheet. It also capped another stellar weekend for Rossi. Rossi led the team and topped double digits in kills in both games.

Harvard returns home next weekend for games against Penn (6-7, 0-3) and Princeton (7-4, 2-1) respectively. The Friday night clash will be at 7 p.m. while the Saturday game will be at 6 p.m.

—Staff writer Reed M. Trimble can be reached at reed.trimble@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ReedTrimble1.