Match Stats
- Harvard 3, NJIT 0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-21)
- Harvard moves to 10-13, 7-7 EIVA; NJIT falls to 13-13, 6-8 EIVA
- Cambridge, Massachuesetts
- Attendance: 299
- Box Score
Harvard swept NJIT on Saturday afternoon to do its part to stay in the EIVA Tournament race. With the 26-24, 25-14, 25-21 win, the Crimson moved to 7-7 in conference play.
Sacred Heart (15-10, 8-6), however, swept Princeton (12-13, 8-6) to secure the fourth spot in the EIVA playoffs.
Harvard hit .321 and served up seven aces in the match, but was outblocked 7.5 to 3 by the Highlanders.
Freshman outside hitter Erik Johnsson led the Crimson with 14 kills on a team-best .444 hitting effort, while also managing a team-best six digs. Senior outside Casey White added seven kills and a team-leading three aces. Sophomore middle blocker Trevor Dow chipped in five kills. Junior setter Marko Kostich accounted for eight assists and six digs.
Redshirt junior opposite Raymond Kowalski managed 12 kills to lead the Highlanders, while senior outside Jabarry Goodridge added 11. Goodridge also accounted for seven digs. Senior middle Luke Robbe followed with nine kills and three blocks, while hitting at a team-best .389 clip. Redshirt senior outside Brad Thele pulled up a team-best nine digs, while adding seven kills. Freshman middle Luke Allmond added four kills and a team-best four blocks.
NJIT took a 7-3 lead to start the afternoon, with help from a trio of solo blocks, two by Allmond. Three Highlander miscues and an ace by White put Harvard on top 8-7. The teams tied 14 times as the match waned on, last at 24-all. A block by Kostich and Dow put the Crimson on top 16-14. NJIT tied it up at 16, sparking a string of six ties, last at 21-21 as the teams traded points. A service error and an ace by Riley Moore put Harvard up 23-21. A ball handling error and a kill by Kowalski knotted the score once again. The teams traded kills, before a pair of Highlander errors, a bad set and a hitting miscue, sealed the stanza for Harvard.
Johnsson tallied two kills and Kostich added an ace as Harvard raced out to a 6-1 lead in Set 2. NJIT pulled within two at 8-6 after a kill and a block by Goodridge. Kills by three different players and two White aces pushed the margin to eight at 16-8. The Highlanders got to closer than six the rest of the way as the Crimson scored six of the final seven points. Two Johnsson kills and a trio of NJIT errors aided the rally.
Dow and Johnsson chipped in two kills apiece as Harvard took an 11-6 lead in Set 3. Kills by Robbe, Allmond and Thele pulled NJIT to within three at 13-10. The margin teetered between five and three over the next several points. Back to back kills by Johnsson, however, made it 21-15 Crimson. Kowalski turned in three kills as the Highlanders cut it to 22-18 with three of the next four points. A service error put Harvard on the hill for match point at 24-19. A kill by Cameron Taite and a block by Robbe kept the match going. A Dow kill ended the night.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Harvard Athletics
NEWARK, N.J. – The Harvard men’s volleyball team concluded their regular season with a 3-0 win against New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Saturday afternoon. The win came with set scores of 26-24, 25-14 and 25-21.
Erik Johnsson paced the Crimson with 14 kills, while Casey White added seven kills and a career high three service aces. Matthew Ctvrtlik and Marko Kostich split their time as setters for the Crimson, notching 14 and six digs, respectively. Kostich also added one service ace and six digs.
Courtesy: NJIT Athletics
NEWARK, NJ—The sets were competitive as the match progressed, but visiting Harvard came away with a hard-fought 3-0 sweep of NJIT in the final men’s volleyball match of the 2017 season for the Highlanders Saturday afternoon in the Fleisher Athletic Center.
Saturday marked the final career games for three graduating seniors – Jabarry Goodridge, Brad Thele and Luke Robbe.
Harvard (10-13 overall, 7-7 in EVIA) won in extra sets in the first frame, 26-24, which featured 15 ties and five lead changes. The visiting Crimson built a big early lead and held on for a 25-14 win in the second set and clinched the match with a 25-21 victory in the third set, holding on for the 3-0 sweep.
The Crimson’s Erik Johnsson recorded a match-high 14 kills while setter Matthew Ctvrtlik piled up a team-best 14 assists. Three different players notched six digs defensively for the Crimson and held a 7-0 service ace advantage, paced by Casey White‘s three aces.
NJIT (13-13 overall, 6-8 in EIVA) concluded the 2017 season, paced by redshirt junior Raymond Kowalski‘s 12 kills followed by senior Jabarry Goodridge, with 11. Middle Luke Robbe combined for a .389 attacking percentage, posting nine kills on 18 swings with two errors. Redshirt senior Brad Thele recorded seven kills on 14 swings for a .357 hitting percentage.
Setter Cameron Tait and Ricardo Whitaker split time at the setting position, recording 20 and 11 assists, respectively for the Highlanders. Thele led the match with nine digs followed by Goodridge (7), Kowalski (6) and libero Shannon Heckman (7).
In the first, the Highlanders held a 6-3 advantage, however, the Crimson knotted the set for the first time at 8-8 and both teams traded points throughout the teens into the early 20’s, with Harvard taking a 23-21 lead, resulting in an NJIT timeout. The set saw two more ties, the final at 24 after a kill by Goodridge but the Crimson scored the final two points, holding onto a 26-25 victory.
Harvard recorded a .412 hitting percentage in the second frame as opposed to a .080 percentage by the Highlanders. The Crimson jumped out to a 4-1 lead and later extended to 14-7. NJIT cut the Crimson lead down to six on a kill by Robbe, 13-19, but the visitors went on a 6-1 run for a 25-14 win.
In the third set, Harvard took a 5-1 spurt but the Highlanders pulled to within three, 10-13, after a kill by Thele. Harvard extended its lead to 21-15 after back-to-back kills by Johnsson, resulting in a timeout by NJIT. The Highlanders scored three straight points, pulling within three, 21-24, but Harvard’s Trevor Dow notched a kill for the final point of the match, for a 25-21 victory.
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