Winning Is Everything To Women's Volleyball

There is but one question surrounding the Harvard women's volleyball team as it prepares for the 1995 season: Will the winning trend continue?

True, a 12-17 mark isn't going to set any records for dominance, and don't think that the Crimson is satisfied with the record--below .500 is below .500.

But the 1994 season had to be considered a relative success. The previous two seasons saw Harvard win 13 games and lose 30, which makes that type of improvement really good news.

"I think we're just more stable," co-captain Jennifer Jose said. "We won't be as erratic--we'll be more stable with our wins."

Erratic is a light way of putting it. At times, Harvard was great--such as its three straight road wins over Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth. The 3-2 victory over the Big Red was the Crimson's first since 1990.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Record: 12-17

Ivy League: 3-4

Coach: Jennifer Bates

Captains: Jenifer Jose '96, Mika Sampson '96

Key Returnees: Elissa Hart '98, Sarah Logan '98, Lolita Lopez '98

New Face: Melissa Forcum '99

Key Losses: Zaire Dinzey '95, Rachel Heit '95.

At other times, the team looked awful. In late October, Harvard lost consecutive matches to Brown and Yale after winning the first game. Good teams don't do that.

So it's pretty hard to predict how good the Crimson's fortunes will be in '95. Harvard graduated three key players in June--outside hitter Zaire Dinzey, outside hitter Rachel Heit and defensive specialist Judy Iriye.

At the same time, there's a lot of talent returning. Besides Jose, a middle hitter who was third in the Ivy League in blocks with 1.2 per game, Harvard brings back second-team All-Ivy Elissa Hart, a sophomore who can hit middle or right side.

Other key players who are back include a trio of sophomores: outside hitter Rachel Gold, middle hitter Sarah Logan and outside hitter Lolita. Lopez, who is moving over from setter. Vying for this year's setting spot will be co-captain Mika Sampson and a pair of freshmen, Marcella Mousavi and Katherine Nash.

Gold saw much action last season, playing in over 60 percent of the Crimson's games, so she, Lopez and freshman Melissa Forcum should fill the departing seniors' shoes well.

In addition, Harvard has one of the deepest benches that it has had in years, with reserves such as junior Heather Rypkema, sophomore Molly Meenan and freshmen Catherine Betti, Marcy Ellis and Anne Schafer.

Also, many players are interchangeable--Hart can hit middle, and Lopez can always set if needed.

"We're really more balanced," Jose said. "In terms of team chemistry, it seems that we've bonded much more quick. The off-the-bench support is strong."

Another bonus for this season is that two-thirds of the Crimson's non-tournament matches are home games. Besides the Harvard Invitational, the team only had four matches in the Malkin Athletic Center last year.

Not only did it mean that the Crimson spent a lot of time in front of hostile crowds in '94, but it was also hard for Harvard to get a strong fan base if the team was never home. This year, the players would like the home-heavy schedule to turn that trend around.

Hopefully for the Crimson, that will be the only trend that is turned around.