But Harvard’s offensive problems returned in the third and fourth frames. Hitting .128 and .156 in the two games, respectively, the Crimson found itself unable to mount a consistent attack.

Thus Maine, despite playing at a mediocre level itself, took control of the contest and won both frames, extending Harvard’s losing streak to five matches.

“It’s a huge bummer,” Cebron said. “Everyone is really sick of losing. But I think that energy will be channeled into good practices.”

DARTMOUTH 3, HARVARD 0

This was not how Harvard envisioned its Ivy League opener.

Rather than coming out dominant, the Crimson was dominated Friday night, falling 3-0 (30-22, 30-22, 30-28) in a shocking sweep and losing to Dartmouth for the first time since 2001.

“It came down to us being tentative,” Blotky said. “There was a lack of aggression on our part.”

Though Harvard limited its service errors—a problem that haunted the Crimson on Wednesday against Northeastern—the Big Green (6-3) took advantage of the weaker serves to set up its attack.

“We really needed to serve tougher,” Cebron said. “We were too defensive.”

After succumbing easily in the first two frames, Harvard had a chance to make a comeback in the third game of the match.

In a sloppy frame that featured 16 attack errors, the score stayed tight throughout. The teams traded points, forcing 16 ties and seven lead changes.

The Crimson finally went on a mini-run to move ahead 28-25. But Dartmouth fired off five straight points to clinch the game and complete its sweep.

“When the score is that tight, it’s important to be fearless and go for every ball hard,” Blotky said. “But we were afraid of swinging and missing. Maybe it’s partly because we’re a young team.”

The Big Green offense started the match on fire. Hitting a whopping .412, Dartmouth decimated Harvard’s defense and led for most of the first frame en route to a 30-22 victory.

Though the Big Green attack cooled down in the second game, it took advantage of the Crimson’ inconsistent hitting to stay ahead by a small margin.

Harvard fought back to tie the frame at 20, but Dartmouth went on a 10-2 run to close out the game, 30-22, and set itself up for the sweep.

Fortunately for the Crimson, it will have a chance at redemption when the Big Green travels to Cambridge this Friday.

“I’m ready for a rematch,” Blotky said. “We did not show [Dartmouth] who we are at all. They better be ready for a completely different team.”

—Staff writer Karan Lodha can be reached at klodha@fas.harvard.edu.