Spikers Wear Underdog Stripes Well

NEW YORK--It was after Harvard played Cornell in the Ivy League women's volleyball tournament. The team had returned to the Ramada Inn in New Jersey where, coincidentally, the Princeton squad was also staying.

I was in the hallway, returning to my room, when a Princeton player walked up to me and said, "Better luck next year."

I had to inform her, quite politely of course, that Harvard was still in the tournament. It was Cornell that had lost.

The Crimson, seeded sixth in the tournament, surprised not only that Princeton player, but an entire troop of volleyball experts and fans on its way to finishing third in the tourney--two points away from the finals.

For the Crimson, expectations had never been high.

Two years ago, Harvard finished with a 4-17 record, the worst since the squad started varsity play in 1981. But last year, Harvard had a new coach and a new attitude.

Even though the squad finished with a 5-16 record, the spikers played competitively. This year, the Crimson entered the tournament with a 15-9 overall record, 3-4 in the league.

But when it came tournament time, Harvard hit the floor with the confidence of a winner, making diving saves to keep rallies alive, fighting for every point. Bench players cheered on their teammates and entertained the 200 fans with their own version of "The Wave." When Harvard took a set, the players rushed the court to congratulate the victors.

Because of its enthusiastic play and underdog status, the Crimson quickly became the crowd favorite, receiving support from teams that were already eliminated. Even Penn, which was sitting pretty in the winners' bracket, rooted for Harvard.

Harvard began the tournament on a sour note when it fell to Cornell in straight sets. The Crimson dropped into the losers' bracket, one loss away from elimination.

Somehow, though, Harvard kept winning. And winning.

After crushing Dartmouth in straight sets, it was payback time. Yale had blown out the Crimson in the regular season. Now, if Harvard had its way, the Elis would be on the losing end.

While watching the Yale-Princeton match, several spectators commented on Yale's hard hitters. But Harvard Coach Wayne Lem mumbled to himself that he wasn't impressed. Quietly, he predicted a Harvard victory.

Too bad Las Vegas wasn't offering odds on the contest. Lem would have cleaned up.

The underdog Crimson pounded Yale in four sets, and afterward, Yale Coach Peggy Scofield was virtually speechless. All she could say was that Harvard had played the match of its life.

If she had hung around, she would have seen Harvard play three more matches, all as exciting as the Crimson's defeat of Yale.

Princeton heard the news of Yale's defeat but could not believe it; some of the players muttered, "No way."

Princeton may have been a doubter, but Cornell soon became a believer.

At 5:30, the Crimson squared-off against Cornell. Before the match, a Cornell starter was telling some of her friends that after her team beat Harvard, it would play the loser of the Princeton-Penn match. Her friends are probably still waiting for that Cornell-Princeton showdown.

The Crimson dropped two of the first three sets, but Harvard Co-Captains Maia Forman and Jodi Cassell and the rest of the team kept telling each other that victory was possible.

With the bench screaming, the Crimson fought back to take the next two sets.

Back at the hotel, the players ordered pizza, and Lem stayed in his room, watching, appropriately, "Hoosiers." Lem could not help but make the comparison between the underdogs in the movie and his underdog squad.

Harvard was a team that the critics expected to be out of the tournament, just like the high school basketball team in "Hoosiers" was expected to go nowhere. Like the team in "Hoosiers", the Crimson was smaller than its opponents.

Before the Harvard-Princeton match Sunday, the gymnasium looked more like Stillman infirmary. Several players walked around with blisters on their feet, the price of playing three matches the previous day. The team had bought a can of band-aids the night before. All the band-aids were in use.

The place smelled of Ben Gay.

Despite the adversity, the Crimson managed to capture the first and second sets against Princeton. But Harvard could not hold on. The team dropped the next two sets and then fell in the deciding set, 15-13.

The Crimson came two points away from a final no one expected it to be even close to.

The last play of the game seemed to capture the team's tournament performance. Forman, who is 5-ft., 4-in. and Manda Schossberger who is 5-ft., 7-in., went up for a block against Princeton's 6-ft., 1-in. Kelly Slatterly.

The ball was tipped all the way past the backcourt line, and freshman Carolyn Burger dove for the ball. It was just out of reach.