Northeastern Spanks Women Spikers in Three Sets

It was a quick loss for the Harvard women's volleyball team last night, as Northeastern downed the Crimson, 15-4, 15-6, 15-5, in less than 45 minutes of action at N.U.

In the opening set, the spikers played competitively and were only down by five, 9-4, before the Huskies ran off six straight points to capture the win.

Northeastern carried the same momentum through the next two games, despite three consecutive aces by the Crimson's sophomore captain, Maia Forman, in the second set. Harvard trailed the entire final contest, dropping eight straight points to the strong serving of Huskie freshman Andrea Richardson.

"We didn't handle their serves very well," Crimson senior Jodi Cassell explained. "We weren't passing the ball well at all."

Forman targeted passing as a key to the Crimson loss: "We had some problems with our passing. They hit some plays in the middle that we weren't really prepared for," she said.

Northeastern, which became a Division I club this year after playing national-caliber Division II ball the past few seasons, dominated the net play with its height and good blocking. "They were bigger than we were. They were hitting over our blocks," Forman said.

Ivy Action

Harvard faces a tough schedule this weekend, with two Ivy League matches scheduled. The Crimson meets Cornell in Malkin Athletic Center Friday night and then travels to Dartmouth on Saturday.