Spikers 1-2 at MAC

On a busy weekend whose schedule included two matches on Saturday and another on Sunday, the Harvard men's volleyball team opened its home season with a dramatic win over Yale, but then dropped contests to Dartmouth and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The results left the Crimson with a 2-8 record overall and a 1-3 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

Playing before 60 fans at the Malkin Athletic Center on Saturday, the spikers rebounded from Tuesday's humiliating loss to MIT with a four-game defeat of the Elis--15-6, 6-15, 15-13, and 16-14.

Leading 6-5 in the opening game, Harvard pulled away by scoring eight consecutive points before the Bulldogs could earn another tally. A Yale timeout at 11-5 couldn't slow down Harvard's momentum, as the Crimson coasted to a 15-6 win.

But Yale, relying on the hitting of Paul Yoder and Captain-Coach Victor Rodriguez, set down the Crimson by the same score in the following game. Harvard also suffered the loss of freshman Henry Olson when he sprained his ankle colliding with a teammate on a block.

"Henry's a really aggressive player," Harvard Co-Captain Russell Riopelle said. "He'll be missed."

Harvard found itself trailing again in the third game, but it rallied to win 15-13.

The spikers fell six points behind at 6-12 when a Bulldog shot landed in the middle of all six Crimson players, but Harvard closed the gap thanks to the spiking of Jin Park, the tips of Riopelle and Bob Kwun, and an ace by Seth Farber.

And after Yale upped the lead to 13-10, Harvard reeled off five straight points for the win.

The fourth and deciding game featured yet another tremendous Harvard comeback.

Down 9-3, the spikers rallied to take a 11-10 lead. Yale struck back for three points of its own, but a tip, a block, and a Park spike tied up the contest.

A good serve by Scott Neilson and a poor hit by Yale gave the Crimson a thrilling 16-14 victory.

"We were playing better defense today," Olson said in comparing the Yale (now 3-4) and MIT matches. "We kept the rallies going, which we didn't do against MIT."

The Crimson, with its first win in two full weeks under its belt, resumed play 20 minutes later against the Big Green of Dartmouth.

Dartmouth gave Harvard a dose of its own medicine by rallying from a six-point deficit to beat the Crimson 16-14 in the first game. A spike by Farber gave Harvard a 14-8 advantage, but the Big Green was effective in blocking Park's powerful spikes on route to the win.

Harvard took the next two games, 15-12 and 15-8, but Dartmouth--now 6-1 overall--won the next two, 15-10 and 15-11, to hand the Crimson its third EIVA loss against only one win.

"We were a little tired," Riopelle said, "but that wasn't the determining factor. Dartmouth doesn't have more talent than we do, but they were more aggressive and played harder."

The Crimson fell Sunday to NJIT, now 9-2 overall, in non-league action.