Although many Crimson supporters will be wholly focused upon “The Game” between the Harvard and Yale football teams this coming weekend, there are a few other Crimson squads that have competitions this weekend with major NCAA implications.
Women’s Volleyball vs. Princeton (Friday 7:00p.m.)
Harvard Women’s Volleyball clinched a share of the Ancient Eight title for the second straight season with its 3-1 victory against Brown this past Saturday. Sitting atop the league with Princeton, the Crimson (14-10, 10-4 Ivy) relishes the chance to compete against the Tigers (15-8, 10-4) in a deciding play-in game to earn the Ivy League’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Looking for a different result than the loss at the hands of rival Yale in the play-in game a year ago, the Crimson is playing to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in the history of the program.
During the teams’ regular season matchups, each squad won, 3-0, on its home court, but it is yet to be seen whether that trend will continue.
To put an end to Princeton’s seven-match win streak, Harvard defense must neutralize the Tigers’ Cara Mattaliano and Kendall Peterkin. Each Princeton player posted at least 15 kills and 10 digs in the most recent game between the two schools in New Jersey.
Men’s Water Polo CWPA Championships (Begins Friday 6:00 p.m.)
After a heartbreaking double-overtime loss, 14-13, to Brown in the finals of last weekend’s CWPA Northern Division Championship, the No. 12 Harvard men’s water polo team will compete in the CWPA Championships this weekend for a potential berth in the NCAA tournament.
In its first match of the tournament at MIT’s Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, the Crimson (19-9, 9-3 CWPA Northern) will face winner of the Navy vs. Washington & Jefferson College game earlier in the day.
Harvard will look to best it’s seventh place finish from a year ago by riding the recently clutch play of senior attacker Blake Lee, who forced both overtimes against Brown with last second scores.
Cross Country NCAA and IC4A Championships (Saturday)
Continuing to post strong results in her sophomore campaign for the Crimson, Courtney Smith was the lone Harvard runner to qualify for the NCAA Championships on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky with her 5th place finish in the 6K at NCAA Regionals. Smith is the first Harvard woman to accomplish such a feat since the entire team qualified in 2012.
The Crimson men’s cross country team heads off to in the IC4A Championships on Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, N.Y.
Coming off of an 8th place finish at NCAA Regionals headlined by senior Chris Allen’s 28th place finish with a time of 31:27 in the 10K, the Harvard squad looks to add to its list of top-ten finishes on the season.
