M. Spikers Drop Two Over Weekend

Is there a difference between losing and being beaten?

If you're on the Harvard men's volleyball team, your answer to that question is probably, "yes."

After a convincing performance win over Yale on Thursday, the Crimson simply could not reproduce the same effort over the weekend at the East Stroudsberg, Invitational tournament in East Stroudsberg, Pennsylvania.

Harvard (19-7 overall, 5-3 EIVA) dropped two non-league matches to Juniata, 3-2, and East Stroudsberg, 3-1, but the players weren't rushing to praise their opponents efforts.

"Someone on the team said it perfectly, we have yet to lose to a team which has beaten us," sophomore Jon Carpenter said.

Carpenter pointed to the team's loss to Juniata as an example.

"We played dismally bad on Friday night. We simply didn't show up to play," he said. "We didn't apply any steady pressure.

An unexpected change in the tournament schedule caused Harvard to arrive 10 minutes late for its first game, forcing its pre-match preparations to be hurried.

"Even then, there is no excuse for the lack of mental preparation that we showed on Friday night," junior Captain Vince Marin said.

Hampered with injuries to starters Carpenter and junior Cody Church, Harvard had to completely change its line-up with everyone on the bench received playing time.

One reserve who capitalized on his chance to play was freshman Dominic Alloco, starting in his first game.

"Dominic played exceptionally well and above everyone's expectations. He played both games, blocked solidly and hit intelligently," Carpenter said.

Even though the Crimson lost, Marin contends that there were a lot of positive things which came out of the East Stroudsberg match.

"We didn't play that badly," Marin said, "and our main goal [the Ivies] seems a lot more attainable."

With the Ivy League tournament looming ahead, the Harvard players know they must eliminate the erratic play they have displayed as of late.

"We shouldn't worry about who we're playing but we should concentrate on high-level play on our side of the net," freshman Ned Staebler said. "When we pass the ball, we're very good but we always fall into these mental lapses."

"It's a spiral that we can't get out of," Carpenter agreed.

"The key to victory is maintaining a constant level of play," Marin said.