Spikers Shoot for N.E. Title

The Harvard men's volleyball team will enter today's New England Volleyball Championships with very little to prove.

Consider the fact that the Crimson has captured practically every regional title in sight, including the New England League regular season (three years in a row) and the New England Open (two straight years). Even this afternoon they will arrive as defending champions.

More importantly, the spikers have their sights set on winning the NCAA Northeastern regionals (at Harvard next Saturday), which would assure them of their first-ever berth among the East's final four.

Harvard, favored to win this weekend's tournament, leads a group of 10 teams split in two separate pools. The spikers will meet B.C., B.U., Williams and Bryant College on a round-robin basis. Of these teams, the Crimson has only played B.C., taking a scrimmage victory. But senior Captain Brad Martin expressed certainty that "they [B.C.] and the other squads are fairly weak teams."

So the spikers' main competition should surface from the other pool, which boasts teams such as Springfield and Northeastern, the number two and three seeds, respectively. However, the Crimson enjoyed having Springfield as its main course--uh, competition--throughout the year, dismissing them in three games each time. Northeastern fell prey to the spikers in the New England Open finals, 2-1, in the only meeting between the two teams this season.

Understandably, the team's attitude exudes optimism. "We really are confident that we are going to win," Martin said. Sophomore Mohan Nadkarni agreed, but added a small warning: "Having beaten these teams before, it's hard to get psyched up. But we didn't have as easy a time as we thought," he said of Harvard's 3-0 win Thursday night at Springfield, "and it would be nice to dominate and have some short games."

The Crimson's regular season finale raised two questions that could turn into concerns for the playoffs. The first was a lackluster and rusty start that allowed Springfield to build an early advantage. The spring break may have interrupted the spikers' momentum and consistency, and they can utilize this tourney to hone their skills in time for the more important NCAA regionals. As Nadkarni stated, "It's very important to start peaking right now, to start getting back the cohesiveness and the timing" that characterized the squad's play before vacation.

In any event, the spikers look forward to regaining the old form and continuing their invincibility against teams such as Northeastern and Springfield. Moreover, the Crimson just relishes the thought of garnering more honors. As Nadkarni noted, "It's always nice to come away with a trophy anytime you can."