Northeastern Chews Up Spikers, 3-0; Huskies Lift Incredible Mark to 15-1

For the second time this season, the Harvard women's volleyball team squared off against Northeastern. And for the second straight time, the Crimson failed to win a set.

The result was nothing new: Harvard hasn't won a set from the Huskies since 1984. But the squad should have won a set or two this time.

The Crimson (now 10-4) lost a 16-14, 15-6, 15-10 decision to the Huskies (15-1) yesterday in front of a season-low 10 spectators at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Harvard's loss (in a match that wasn't originally scheduled) also snapped its six-game winning streak.

In the match, Co-Captain Maia Forman recorded two aces and 18 assists while Co-Captain Jodi Cassell added six kills and two aces. Suzie Tapson (two aces, four kills) and Manda Schossberger (three blocks and four kills) each made contributions in the losing effort.

"We got a little intimidated by their height," Forman said. "They were blocking and hitting really well. But the first set was our best set."

Happy Birthday

Harvard quickly jumped out to a 6-2 advantage in the first set, with two aces from Cassell and kills from Pacale Jean-Louis, Schossberger, and Lee Polikoff.

Led by the serving of Tapson, the spikers increased their lead to 11-6, but the Huskies fought back to tie the set at 14-14.

"They didn't beat us," Harvard Coach Wayne Lem said. "We beat ourselves. We took big leads in two of the three sets, but we couldn't put them away."

After losing a heart-breaker in the first set, the Crimson lacked any kind of intensity, as the Huskies took a commanding 10-4 advantage in the second set.

Harvard closed the deficit at 11-6, but the bigger Huskies went on to capture the next four points and the set.

The third set saw Harvard jump out to an early lead, taking a 8-2 lead on Tapson's service-game. But the Huskies rallied to to cut the Crimson's lead by three, 10-7.

"They blocked really well," Tapson said. "We weren't playing smart. We let them intimidate us. They are big girls, husky girls."

Harvard did not score another point during the rest of the set.