W. Spikers With Painful Memories

Some memories are too painful to bear.

The Harvard women's volleyball team lived through a nightmare last year, failing to win a single regular-season contest and getting bumped out in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament.

For now, it's time to rebuild. But the question for the team is: with what?

Harvard Coach Wayne Lem says the team has a "strong nucleus coming back." Then again, he said that last year.

The Ivy League is, however, rapidly approaching parity. Though Pennsylvania dominated the sport in the 1980s, stronger recruiting efforts by coaches and the increasing popularity of the sport on the East have improved the strength of the other Ivy teams.

Last year, formerly weak Cornell and Yale dominated the regular-season, though Penn did manage to win the Ivy tournament.

The increasing competitiveness of the league certainly bodes well for the Crimson. Coming into this season, no Ivy team looks ready to dominate the season. Can Harvard sneak in to take the title?

Probably not. But the Crimson can certainly make life difficult around the league. Captains Michelle Carlo and Jennifer Garcia are proven talents, as is junior Ngozi Ogbunamira.

Lem won't settle on a lineup until the freshman arrive on campus, but for now he's clear about one thing.

"We're stressing defense, defense, defense," Lem said. "We've never been blessed with great height, so we're looking to frustrate the bigger teams."

Maybe then Harvard can give the other Ivies some bad memories of their own.