Spikers Take Sixth at Ivy Tournament

PRINCETON--The Harvard women's volleyball team entered the 12th-annual Ivy League tournament with high expectations.

When you don't reach those high expectations, it often leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.

The Crimson finished sixth at the Ivy tournament last weekend in Princeton, N.J., compiling a 1-2 mark.

Disappointment could be seen on the face of every Crimson player and coach. Last year, Harvard placed third in the tournament, two points from the finals.

After losing to Cornell in the first round and dropping to the losers' bracket last Friday, the Crimson rallied to grab an exciting five-set victory against Columbia.

Harvard defeated the Lions, 10-15, 15-13, 8-15, 15-2, 15-11, but the dream of a first-ever Ivy title came to an end in a 15-1, 15-11, 16-14 loss to 1987 Ivy champion Princeton.

"We definitely didn't play as well as we could or should have," Co-Captain Manda Schossberger. "We started off with a bad match, but we did play better against Columbia and Princeton. It comes down to inexperience."

Schossberger was named co-captain of next year's team along with Carolyn Burger.

"It had its up and downs," said Burger of the tournament. "We didn't play that well. There were a few good moments, for instance the second and third sets of the Princeton match."

Harvard has six freshmen, three sophomores and four juniors returning next year. The tournament was the last matches for Lara Akinbami, Susie Nemes, Nicole Anderson and Maia Forman, who will be remembered as one of the best setters in the Ivy League.

The Crimson's chances were hurt when sophomore Peri Wallace came down with chicken pox a day before the tournament.

"We really missed Peri," Schossberger said. "We could have used her blocking and scoring. It's been a kind of frustrating season with all of the injuries. But like [Coach Wayne Lem] says, 'We always have next year.'"

Schossberger, who was one of the finalists for Ivy Player of the Year, was named to the All-Ivy second team, while Forman, the team's captain, was placed on the honorable mention team. The University of Pennsylvania's Melissa Ingalls was named Ivy League Player of the Year.

Brown captured its first Ivy championship with a four-set win over Penn. It was the first time in 10 years that someone other than Quakers or the Tigers had won the Ivy title.

In the Crimson's second match of the tournament, Columbia jumped to a 7-0 lead. Harvard got a side-out on kill by Burger to stop the Lion run. The Crimson took advantage of the sideout by scoring eight straight points to take the lead.

But the Lions would surprise the Crimson by capturing eight of the next 10 points to win the first set.

In the second set, Harvard pulled out to a 7-5 lead on a block by junior Jennifer O'Shea and kills by senior Anderson, Burger and Schossberger. After Columbia rallied rallied to take a 10-8 lead, the Crimson bounced back to win seven of the next 10 points to tie the match at 1-1.

In the Columbia match, Schossberger had 15 kills, three blocks and two aces. Burger contributed 10 kills and an ace. Anderson added five kills and four blocks. Forman and freshman Christina Smith both added two aces. O'Shea also played tough at the net.

The third set, the Lions jumped out to a surprising 9-0 lead before the spikers scored six straight points. Leading the way for Harvard was Schossberger, who recorded four of those points with kills.

The fourth set was all Crimson, as the spikers grabbed an early 4-2 lead. After both teams traded sideouts, the Crimson rolled off 11 consecutive points to tie the match at 2-2.

In the fifth set, Columbia, looking for its biggest upset ever, took a 4-0 lead. The Lions fought off several Crimson surges to hold a 9-8 lead.

After Lee Polikoff recorded an ace to tie the game, the Crimson captured six of the next eight points to win the set and match.

Forman recorded two big kills, freshman Mari Rodriguez an ace and Anderson a dink shot to lead Harvard to victory.

In the first set of the Princeton match, the Tigers allowed the Crimson only one point. But in the second set, Harvard made the Tigers work for their win.

Harvard held a 9-6 advantage before Princeton rallied to pull out a victory.

In the third set, Harvard controlled the early part of the match, taking a 6-1 advantage. But the Tigers fought back to close the deficit to 10-6.

The spikers increased their lead to 14-8, but the squad could not put Princeton away. The Tigers rallied to win the next eight points to win the set and match.

"We're all a little disappointed about the way we played," Burger said. "We played better during the regular season than we did at the tournament. We have a few things to be proud of."