Harvard Men’s Volleyball will play two matches against Sacred Heart on March 27 and March 28, according to a March 27 announcement. The games are scheduled for Friday at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 8:00 PM, with both matches available for streaming on ESPN+.
The upcoming series comes as Harvard seeks to improve its record in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), where it currently stands at fifth out of seven teams with a season record of five wins and twelve losses overall, and two wins and four losses in conference play. Sacred Heart is ranked just below Harvard, holding sixth place with a record of seven wins and ten losses overall, but no conference victories so far.
Harvard enters the matchup following consecutive defeats by No. 12 McKendree University earlier in the week. The Crimson lost both matches in three sets each day, with scores of (13-25, 22-25, 21-25) on Tuesday and (21-25, 17-25, 13-25) on Wednesday. Zach Berty led Harvard’s efforts across both offense and defense by recording a total of seventeen kills and thirteen digs over the weekend. Sawyer Nichols contributed eleven kills along with two blocks as an important offensive player for the team. Brian Thomas added nine kills and four block assists during these games.
Sacred Heart also comes into this series after back-to-back shutout losses to George Mason University at home over six straight sets; George Mason is currently ranked third in the EIVA standings.
Historically, Harvard leads Sacred Heart by a significant margin in their head-to-head matchups with thirty-nine wins compared to nine for Sacred Heart. However, it has been since 2009 that Harvard last defeated the Pioneers.
Looking ahead, Harvard will conclude its final away weekend of the regular season at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia on April 3rd and April 4th. Those matches will also be streamed live on ESPN+.
