Spikers Earn Weekend Split

Last year, the Harvard women's volleyball team scored 13 points against Penn and seven against Princeton.

Friday, Harvard took Penn to four sets, earning 52 points along the way. Saturday, Harvard fell in straight sets to Princeton, but managed to record 32 points.

Are we looking at a future Ivy powerhouse?

After playing its best match of the season against defending Ivy champion Penn, the Crimson slipped below its potential against Princeton, but still kept the contest close.

The Crimson (12-8 overall, 2-4 Ivy) fell to the Tigers 15-5, 15-13, 15-11 before 35 spectators at the Malkin Athletic Center, but rebounded two hours later to pull out a victory over Dartmouth, 15-8, 15-9, 15-8.

Despite its two weekend losses, Harvard realized one thing: it can compete with the Ivy League frontrunners.

In the first set of the Princeton match, Harvard fell behind quickly, as the Tigers (now 16-8, 4-2) covered and blocked Harvard shots consistently.

The second set started off the same, with Princeton taking a 5-1 advantage on short sets.

But the Crimson rebounded to take the lead, 7-6, with kills by Lee Polikoff, Suzie Tapson, Jodi Cassell, and a block by Co-captain Maia Forman.

The Crimson got a side-out on a block by Forman and Pascale Jean-Louis, and the squad took advantage of this opportunity, recording a spike to tie the game at 14-14.

In the third set, Caroline Burger set up Manda Schossberger for several kills to give the Crimson a 6-4 lead. Harvard continued to out play the Tigers, with Forman placing perfect dink shots. Jean-Louis and Polikoff added kills to increase Harvard's advantage to 9-6.

But Princeton's big blockers continued to frustrate the Crimson, as the Tigers rallied to capture the set and match.

"Lee played a good game at the net," Cassell said.

It Ain't Easy Being Green

After the disappointing loss to Princeton, Harvard rebounded with a three-set triumph over Dartmouth. The Crimson's victory was the 12th of the year, which ties a Harvard record.

Because the mismatch favored the Crimson, Harvard Coach Wayne Lem gave the bench players a lot of playing time. And they made the most of their chance.

Second-stringers Jennifer O'Shea, Karla Selmon and Peri Wallace provided the Crimson with fine net play. And Beverly Armstrong, Yvonne Karanas and Lara Akinbami each recorded kills.