Women's Volleyball Loses Three Tough Matches

It was more of the same for the Harvard women's volleyball team this past weekend.

The Crimson (3-12) fell in three straight matches at the Husky/Asics Invitational held at northeastern. INDIANA STATE  3 HARVARD  2 DENVER  3 HARVARD  0 HARVARD  2 NORTHEASTERN  3

The performance, which included two five-game losses, extended the Crimson's losing streak to five. That five-game streak is separated from an earlier six-game losing steak by only a win over Manhattan two weekends ago.

Improvement is difficult because the Crimson is having a hard time fingering the reason for all the losses.

"I am not going to excuse it in any way," co-captain Kate Nash said. "We've come close to a lot of tough teams. It is partially due to a tough schedule, but it's hard to say what else."

In the match on Saturday, the Indiana State Sycamores triumphed 9-15, 15-11, 15-8, 7-15, 15-13. In the second match, played yesterday, Harvard fell to Denver 17-15, 15-13, 15-8.

Later yesterday, Northeastern defended its home turf by defeating Harvard 15-11, 15-17, 15-6, 15-17, 15-11.

Harvard's anticipating heading into the weekend made it all the more difficult.

"Basically it was frustrating in that we were looking to this weekend to be a dramatic turnaround for us," said senior outside hitter Anne Schafer. "We played very, very well. In terms of our level of play, we did have a turnaround."

Harvard played without two of its top players, junior outside hitter Linda Jellison, out with a sprained ankle, and sophomore middle hitter Katherine Hart, who is nursing a stress fracture in her foot.

"They are two of our strongest players," Nash said. "But it is more important to note is that other people stepped up and filled in those gaps.

"The team is very deep. We have a lot of not only experienced players but also a lot of talented players."

Indiana State 3, Harvard 2

Indiana State was a long way from Terra Haute, but the Sycamores stood tall against the Crimson attack.

In the first game, Harvard was out-dug (19-14) and out-killed (10-9) but came away with the game victory, 15-9.

The Sycamores bounced back to take the next two games, 15-11 and 15-8.

Harvard, down but not out, rallied to a take the fourth game 15-7 on a .414 team hitting percentage and 15 kills.

"The feeling out on the court versus Indiana State was awesome", Nash said.

In the fifth game, played with rally scoring--in which there are no side-outs--Harvard came close but could not pull it out, losing 15-13.

Freshman middle hitter Erin Denniston led the way for the Crimson with 18 kills. Co-captain Melissa Forcum and sophomore Angela Lutich provided 18 and 11 kills, respectively.

Forcum served up six aces and had 21 digs in the losing effort. Nash contributed 60 set assists.

Cheryl Berg had 27 kills for the Sycamores.

"Anytime we play in give, we feel like we can take them", Nash said. "It's really hard to believe that we didn't win."

Denver 3, Harvard 0

Yesterday, the Denver Pioneers rolled into Boston to battle the Crimson.

They also rolled over the Crimson.

The score implies that Denver seemed to dominate more and more as the match wore on, winning 17-15, 15-13, 15-8, but it might have been deceiving.

"We played them really close," Nash said. "It's kind of strange that we lost. We've just been having a tough time finishing games and finishing matches."

In the first game, the Crimson kept pace with the Pioneers, forcing the game past the usual 15-point mark.

The Crimson trailed in kills by only one and out-dug the Pioneers by two.

The second game also was close as the Crimson lost despite an effort that included 14 kills and 18 digs.

In the third and final game, Harvard dropped the match with a 15-8 game score.

Forcum and Lutich again led the Harvard offense with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Nash contributed 31 assists.

Northeastern 3, Harvard 2

Playing on the Huskies' home floor, the Crimson kept it close but could not overcome Northeastern's strong team.

Harvard and Northeastern traded wins in the first four games with the Crimson having to work harder for its two, winning both 17-15.

In the final game of the match, again played with rally scoring, the Crimson lost 15-11.

Lutich tallied 23 kills and Forcum chipped in with 15. Sophomore setter Julie Yick was the spark, however, with 41 set assists and 31 digs.

Denniston added 10 kills en route to being named to the All-Tournament team.

The loss dropped the Crimson to 0-6 in five-set matches.

Harvard will try to reclaim the season as it opens up Ivy play at Cornell and Columbia next weekend.

"It's whole new season," Nash said.

"We're just going to learn what we can from these losses and leave it all on the court."