UNH sneaks past Harvard

UNH defeated Harvard Tuesday, Sept. 18, 3-2, in a five set, back and forth contest where neither team seemed dominant. 

After four sets, the Wildcats opened the fifth with a 9-1 run. Harvard roared back, however, with a 9-4 run to put the score at 13-10. The Wildcats claimed the next point, giving them match point. Harvard held and got back within in two, making the score 14-12. Coming up in the clutch, freshman Abigail Brinkman tapped in a soft kill to push the Wildcats to victory, winning the set and match 15-12. 

“It was an up and down match,” head coach Jill Hirschinger said. “Both teams looked awesome at times, and both teams floundered. We’re just happy to come out of here with a win.”

Despite the up and down match, the players felt there were a lot of positives.

“It was a long game, quite the battle,” senior captain Jansen Falcusan said. “It was a good game to get in to, though, right before conference games.”

“It’s nice to go in a game of five sets, battle it out, and pull it out,” junior Morgan Thatcher said. 

Thatcher led the Cats with an impressive performance including a team high 22 kills, a team high .353 kill percentage, a team-leading 26.5 points, three serving aces, and eight digs.

Falcusan led the team with 52 assists. She also chipped in a serving ace, seven digs, and one and a half points. 

Senior Jessie Schnepp led the team in serving aces (four) and digs (22). Junior Destiny Tolliver was second on the team in points (16), kill percentage (.241), and kills (12).

Despite those stellar performances, the match started off with Harvard claiming the first set, 25-21. The set went back and forth and neither team had a large lead throughout. UNH led by four at one point, 12-8, while Harvard led 17-14 at one point as well. 

Despite these small cushions, both teams were tied up late in the set, 20-20. Harvard then went on a 5-1 run to take the set. 

The second set was even closer than the first, despite UNH having a .333 kill percentage compared to Harvard’s .231 kill percentage. The Wildcats never trailed, but the score was tied for the majority of the set until the Cats led 20-16. 

After some more trading of points, the score was all tied up 23-23. This time, however, UNH held on and won the set 25-23. 

After halftime, the Wildcats came out aggressive for the third set. The score was tied early at 4-4, but UNH got hot and led by as much as eight. The Wildcats easily took the set 25-18.

“Set three we played good defense, and we ran a really good offense,” Hirschinger said. 

Just as it looked like UNH would close out the game in four sets, the Wildcats came out flat and never got any momentum going, losing 25-15. UNH had a kill percentage of .025 and only registered eight kills. 

The rocky set spurred some passion back into the Cats, however, as they scored nine of the first 10 points in the final set and took the match. 

The Wildcats improve to 7-8 on the season, and now look ahead to Providence, their first conference opponent. They will meet at UNH Saturday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. 

“We’re going to be working hard this week,” Thatcher said. “We’re going to prepare our game and be aggressive and come out and be the team we know we can be."

Thatcher led the Cats with an impressive performance, including a team high 22 kills, a team high .353 kill percentage, a team-leading 26.5 points, three serving aces, and eight digs.

Falcusan led the team with 52 assists. She also chipped in a serving ace, seven digs and one and a half points. 

Senior Jessie Schnepp led the team in serving aces (four) and digs (22). Junior Destiny Tolliver was second on the team in points (16), kill percentage (.241), and kills (12).

Despite those stellar performances, the match started off with Harvard claiming the first set, 25-21. 

The set went back and forth and neither team had a large lead throughout. UNH led by four at one point, 12-8, while Harvard led 17-14 at one point as well. 

Despite these small cushions, both teams were tied up late in the set, 20-20. Harvard then went on a 5-1 run to take the set. 

The second set was even closer than the first, despite UNH having a .333 kill percentage compared to Harvard’s .231 kill percentage. The Wildcats never trailed, but the score was tied for the majority of the set until the ‘Cats led 20-16.