M. Spikers Close Out Season Third in Ivies

The Harvard men's volleyball team has to wait another year for another shot at its dream: to be called the best in the Ivy League.

Harvard, which was coming off a splendid win against Yale last week, played its final match of the season last Saturday. Unfortunately for the Crimson, it was against nationally ranked Princeton.

Harvard (22-9 overall, 7-3 EIVA) was simply outmatched in all aspects of the game by the Tigers in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament, as the Crimson stumbled to a third place finish in New Haven, Conn.

Two Wins, One Loss

The Crimson, playing in a pool consisting of Brown, Dartmouth and Pennsylvania, defeated the Bears and the Big Green in straight-sets but fell to the Quakers in the final match, 15-9 and 16-14.

"It was a long day and the loss to Penn was very dissapointing," junior Brian Jones said. "Our outside hitting wasn't up to par and we also had some trouble passing, which is usually consistent."

A victory against Penn would have placed the Crimson on top of its bracket, thereby avoiding Princeton in the semifinals.

"We had such a long wait before the Penn match and people became unfocused," junior Captain Vince Marin said. "We started extremely flat."

Three Straight Points

The Crimson held match point in the second game but could not capitalize on the opportunity and allowed the Quakers to run off three straight points to close out the match.

"I thought that we were going to win the [Penn] game but when it came to the crunch, they made the plays that mattered," Jones said.

In a one-sided game, the Tigers handily downed the Crimson, 15-3 and 15-4.

"We were overwhelmed by the entire thing and put out a dismal effort," Marin said.

Princeton went on to defeat Cornell in the finals, 15-10 and 15-9, for the championship.

Season Recap

The Harvard squad has had its bright spots this season.

The team came within a whisker of getting an NCAA bid, an unheard of achievement for a Harvard team.

It was the first Harvard squad in eight years to have a realistic chance at winning the Ivy League championship.

The team as a whole showed a lot of promise. Freshmen Ned Staebler, Abbas Hyderi and Dominic Alloco provided their upperclass counterparts a solid base to fall back on, especially when injuries were hurting the team as was proven this year.

"[The season] was enlightening for us. We've discovered a lot more about ourselves personally and as players," Marin said

Halfway through the season, the team showed signs of faltering, losing matches to teams that it could and should have won.

"This was the season of potential," Marin said. "It had the potential to be something great but we could only provide it in spurts."

A young team, the Crimson will only be losing two seniors, Gino Patrizio and Bennett Johnson, and all of their regular starters will be returning next year.