{shortcode-685f5a2a86084d1398f6f950b5726e9e3dcfb6c1}

Last weekend, the Harvard women’s volleyball team split its doubleheader, beating Penn and falling to Princeton. This week saw another split series.

Coming off a strong performance on Friday against Brown, the Crimson (10-6, 5-2 Ivy League) was unable to withstand the conference-leading Yale (12-4, 6-1).

The Bulldogs’ victory over Harvard was its fourth straight win, which allowed Yale to carry a one-game Ancient Eight lead heading into next weekend. The Crimson currently sits in third place.

YALE 3, HARVARD 1

Like Friday’s performance against Brown, the contest started off with a neck-and-neck battle. Sloppy play from the Crimson in the second set gave the Bulldogs a lead, leading to two Yale kills to give the set to the Bulldogs 25-19.

Despite finishing with two more kills than Yale overall, Harvard was plagued by mistakes, including four attack errors and three attack errors in the first set.

The second set appeared as it would again in the Bulldogs direction, as the visitors initiated an early 13-7 lead. However, the Crimson reversed the momentum of the set, going on an impressive offensive streak to bring the set to a 21-17 score.

A balanced attack in that second set run featured kills by freshman hitter Mindie Mabry, junior hitter Jocelyn Meyer, and junior co-captain Christina Cornelius. Harvard would seal the set 25-22.

In set three, Yale jumped out to an early 9-4 lead, forcing the Crimson to call its first timeout. Despite narrowing the deficit to one point at 11-10, Yale broke away and earned an 18-13 lead. Harvard was unable to find the energy to even the score, and the Bulldogs took the set 25-19.

In the fourth and final set, the Crimson withstood the aggressive Yale attack early on in the frame, but a 12-2 run by the Bulldogs in the middle of the set was simply too much for Harvard to claw back from. The Crimson brought the score back to 21-17, but could not withstand consecutive kills from freshman hitter Kathryn Attar to conclude the set and game.

“We showed a lot of strength and kept fighting and firing at them,” sophomore setter Erin McCarthy said. “There are a lot of things we can improve on and we will go back to the gym and work hard.”

Freshman outsider hitter Evelyn Gray made her season debut in the contest, logging three blocks and one kill. In a noticeable emphasis on younger players, the team featured all four of its freshman in this match.

HARVARD 3, BROWN 1

The Crimson recovered from a first-set loss and defeated the Bears in four sets, earning its fifth Ivy win of the season on Friday.