W. Volleyball Defrocked By Friars

After breaking Dartmouth's 13-match winning streak with a 3-2 triumph on Saturday night, the Harvard women's volley ball team (7-14, 4-1 Ivy League) finally appeared to have turned its season around. The Crimson was hoping that the momentum of beating nationally ranked and Ivy-League leading Dartmouth would translate into success against Providence (13-12, 2-4 Big East). HARVARD  0 PROVIDENCE  3

However, Harvard was unable to execute its passes and instead fell easily to Providence 3-0 last night at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Harvard came out flat against Providence. The Crimson fell behind 9-4 in the first game after Providence captain Colleen Lee served three aces in a row. Senior Catherine Betti came up with a big stop or Lee's next serve and appeared to shift the momentum in Harvard's favor.

Following three points on Kristen Schaffer's serve, the Crimson was only down 9-7 The Friars allowed Harvard to get back in the game by allowing two service errors. However, Harvard was unable to convert.

Providence reeled off four straight easy points and established an insurmountable 13-7 lead. Despite strong serves by sophomore Julie Yick, who had six of eleven points on serve for the Crimson in the game, Harvard eventually lost the first game 15-11.

Game one dictated the tone of the rest of the match. After losing the close first game, Harvard was dominated throughout the rest of the match.

Providence took the second game quickly and easily 15-7. The Friars were led by strong serves and aggressive play from Lee and freshman Sarah Katinger. Harvard was unable to return providence's serves. This problem plagued the Crimson the entire night.

Harvard's attack percentage was a paltry .125 for the match, and it was unable to generate passes. Thus the Crimson could not get its defense started.

"We were unable to field their serves," said co-captain Melissa Forcum. "We allowed them to control us."

Providence's dominance continued into the third game. They took an early 5-0 lead after serving three aces in a row. The Crimson called a time out and recouped to bring the game to 5-3. However, Katinger came up with a huge kill and turned the momentum back in the Friar's favor.

Providence took a 10-4 lead in the game on consistently tough defense. They did not allow the Harvard offense any opportunities by hitting the ball across the breadth of the court.

Eventually Harvard broke through the tenacious defense and had a run of four points to bring the score to 10-8. The Crimson maintained its offensive intensity, and at 11-12, it served to tie the game. But Providence's Heidi Fillippi came up with a strong kill the ended up serving out the game and the match at 15-12.

Harvard's minimal offensive success throughout the match hinged on critical runs, where it dominated the Friars.

"We had some great runs during the game," said Harvard Coach Jennifer Weiss. "If we could have sustained those runs longer we would have won the game."

For the most part, however, the Crimson simply was unable to field the Friars serves. Harvard had poor passes that prevented it from maintaining any offensive consistency.

Despite the loss, the Crimson is excited for its upcoming Ivy League matches. Harvard travels to Yale on Friday to face a tough Eli team in a gym where the Crimson has consistently struggled.

"The Yale game is huge," Forcum said. "If we win in their tough environment, we will play Brown for the Ivy League championship on Saturday."