W. Volleyball Rebounds Against B.C. in Weekend Tourney

Boston College played three tough games against Harvard but could not hold off the its fired-up offense or get past its strong defense, as the Crimson defeated the Eagles at the University of Connecticut Tournament this past weekend.

That was the lone bright spot for the Crimson who was soundly defeated in its two other matches at the two-day event.

Harvard 3, B.C. 0

In its first two contests, Harvard fell in straight games to UConn and Idaho. The Crimson progressively got better, however, and ended the weekend with the B.C. triumph on Saturday.

Just one week ago, the Crimson fared differently against the Eagles. Revenge for that loss was indeed a factor in Harvard's impressive performance.

"B.C. was a team we had already seen before, so we knew what to expect," said co-captain Lolita Lopez. "They beat us last weekend and we wanted vengeance for that loss."

Although the Crimson took the match in three straight games, it was not a runaway by any means.

In fact, Harvard had only one, kill more than Boston College.

After the two earlier tournament losses, by the time the Crimson players took the court against the Eagles, they had already learned that they needed to avoid making errors in order to win.

Harvard O, UConn 3

The B.C. victory came after a pair of defeats handed to the Crimson by two powerful teams. On Friday night, Harvard met the UConn Huskies and fell quickly to their tall, strong opponents.

"We knew going into the game that they were going to be really tough," said co-captain Elissa Hart. "They are traditionally a power in the Big East. We felt prepared, but I guess we weren't."

The match did prove to be a useful learning experience for the team, though, as it headed into its next match against Idaho.

Harvard O, Idaho 3

The Crimson was determined to prevent its disappointment from the UConn match from recurring again when it met Idaho.

As in the UConn match, the first two games against Idaho did not go as the Crimson had planned, as it dropped those games and fell quickly behind in the match. But the third game proved to be a turning point in the tournament for the frustrated Crimson, as it fought to stay alive in the match.

"The third game was the peak of the match. We really started playing," Hart said. "We had good defense and Angela Lutich came in and really fired up the offense, getting some key kills. We really turned it on."

Although the Crimson ended up losing that game, it gained the inspiration that carried it to victory over the familiar Eagles.

Despite its recent problems with non conference opponents, the team remains excited about the possibilities looming in the near future against Ivy League competition.

"We have tremendous depth this year," Lopez said. "I think we will take each inter-league game one at a time."

"The last two years we've gotten second [at the Ivy League Tournament] and we want to go out there this year and win it all. I hope that the third time's a charm."

The team will try to take the strength that it gained from this weekend into the next matches.

This weekend Harvard will play in another tournament at Bucknell, and then will begin league play the following week, facing both Columbia and Cornell.