Spikers Fight For Tourney's Third Seed

If you're bummed out because most of the Harvard teams are just playing out the string, then you might want to mosey on down to the Malkin Athletic Center tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.

The Harvard women's volleyball team will host Brown in a match that will decide who is seeded third in the Ivy League tournament to be hosted by Princeton, November 11-13.

The winner of the match will play Yale in the first round, while the loser will face Cornell, a team known as the L.A. Raiders of Ivy League volleyball for its nastiness.

Although the Crimson has recorded five-set wins over both the Big Red and the Elis this season, Harvard (7-8 overall, 4-2 Ivy League) would like to beat the experienced Bruins (9-8,3-2) for third-place in the regular season.

"We definitely want to win this one," Co-Captain Manda Schossberger said. "Brown's a tough team, but I think we can win if we go out there with the right attitude. We're going to have to play like we want it."

At The Net

Harvard will have to play tough at the net if it wants to be successful tomorrow. Last weekend, Penn and Princeton handed the spikers two losses because by dominating the matches with strong net play.

"We're looking forward to a tough match from Harvard," Bruin Jessica Kowal said. "We're hoping to get a lot of fans out there, since the football team isn't doing well."

Last year, the Crimson recorded a five-set upset win against Brown in the regular season, a victory that dropped the Bruins from second to fourth seed in the tourney. It was the first time the Crimson had defeated Brown since 1981.

The Bruins are looking to avenge that loss.

"We're definitely going for the third-seed," Bruin Lori Kumler said. "This is a big match for both teams."

"It's an important match," Brown's Amy Randal said. "It's probably better to play Yale instead of Cornell. If we go out there and play our type of match, we should come away with a win."

"Brown's a good team," Harvard sophomore Carolyn Burger said. "It's going to be a good test for us. We need good passing and good blocking."

Nicknames

They say you can't tell the players without a program, and with the Harvard women's tennis team, you might need a list of nicknames, too.

Here's a partial list of the Crimson's nicknames: Kristen "Blando" Bland; Jamie "Jamer" Henikoff; Christina "Drago" Dragomirescu; Amy "A.D." deLone; Jacki "Farrey" Farrell; Tanya "T&T" Stasiuk; Nicole "Nickeloeb" Rival; Jennifer "Mink" Minkus. And of course the coaches--Ed "The Ed" Krass and Mark "Questionmark" Wesselink.

Football

Princeton quarterback Jason Garrett has surpassed the NCAA I-AA mark for the most consecutive passes attempted without an interception in both the season and career categories. The senior has thrown 171 straight passes (169 this season) without an interception...Cornell QB Aaron Sumida was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for his outstanding performance against Dartmouth. He was 9-for-16 in his passing attempts for 193 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions...Penn inside linebacker Mike Henley was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in a 10-3 victory over Yale. The senior led the Quakers with 15 tackles, 10 of them solos...Princeton placekicker Chris Lutz was named Ivy League Sophomore of the Week for his effort in the Tigers' 23-8 win over Harvard. Lutz connected on field goals of 21, 33 and 39 yards against the Crimson and was 2-for-2 on PATs.

Soccer

The Ivy League women's Soccer Player of the Week was Dartmouth junior midfielder Jenn Martin, who hammered home the game winner to lead the Big Green past Cornell...Harvard captain Amy Winston was also named to the Ivy honor roll. Winston had a pair of assists as the Crimson defeated Princeton, 4-1.

Quote of the Week: "Growing up, the highlight of the week was Wednesday, when we got to go into town to watch the cows and pigs get slaughtered...Everytime I go to Fenway Park, the smell of kielbasa takes me back home for breakfast."--Harvard tight end Don Gajewski, whose father. Walter ran a sausage business on the side in Erie, Pa.

Quote of the Month: "It's like an orgasm that you've been waiting to have for five years."--Lee Feldman, a Columbia junior after the Lions broke their 44-game losing streak with a 16-13 victory over Princeton on October 8.