Women's Volleyball Splits Games

Demonstrating the inconsistency that has plagued its season, the Harvard's women volleyball team split a weekend road trip with a loss to Cornell and a win over Columbia.

The Crimson (8-10, 1-3 Ivy) failed to shut down a resilient Cornell (10-5, 3-1 Ivy) squad after leading two games to none, eventually losing a 15-10, 15-3, 14-16, 9-15, 14-16 up-and-down heartbreaker Friday afternoon.

Yet, on the next day against Columbia (13-7, 0-4 Ivy), Harvard showed what it is really capable of, quickly crushing the game but less talented team 15-5, 15-5, 15-7.

Harvard 3, Columbia 0

After losing a 2-0 lead in games at Cornell the night before, Harvard was determined to salvage its weekend trip with a win.

Dominating from the outset in all aspects of the game, the Crimson shut down the Lions with solid performances from all of its starters, en route to a 15-5, 15-5, 15-7 win.

For instance, sophomore setter Mindy Jellin ran the offense to near perfection, racking up 32 assists in a short match. Often looking to the outside for firepower, Jellin found her big guns in senior Angela Lutich and junior Erin Denniston, who contributed 13 and 15 kills, respectively.

On defense, senior middle hitter and co-captain Katherine Hart was a force. Playing well at the net, Hart also broke into double digits in digs with 10. Freshman outside hitter Nathalie Miller matched her teammate with 10 digs of her own.

"Everyone had a strong game," Lutich said. "It was a team effort and we came out strong."

Still, the Lions nearly rallied in the third set. Coming out strong, Columbia appeared almost evenly matched with Harvard. But the Crimson demonstrated an iron will and broke down the Lions, who finally fell 15-7.

This killer instinct is something that Harvard, an extremely talented team, has been searching for all fall. Finding it may be the key to the rest of the season.

"After doing so well last season, we were tired of losing, "said Jellin. "When we're mentally on like that, there isn't a team that we can't beat."

Cornell 3, Harvard 2

Saturday's game against Columbia showed what the Crimson can do on an "on" day. Unfortunately, for a few short, yet extremely costly spans of Friday's match at Cornell, Harvard was "off."

After taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match, the Crimson showed significant lapses after dropping a hard-fought third set, eventually losing the two-and-a-half-hour marathon.

The Crimson hardly foresaw such a tough match after its powerful start. Breaking free of a sluggish 5-5 tie in the first game, the Crimson pulled out the game with a six-point rally and dominated the second game with 17 kills.

"In those first two games we played really well," said Lutich. "We held down their attack as our defense was picking it up."

Unfortunately for the Crimson, Cornell broke through in the third. With Harvard pulling out to a 13-8 lead and two points within victory, the Big Red rallied back to 13-11 and tied it at 14-14. Two Harvard hitting errors let Cornell pull out, 16-14.

After tying the match at 2-2 with a 15-9 win in the fourth, Cornell took Harvard to the wire at 14-14 in the fifth, again taking the game, 16-14.

Unfortunately for Harvard, a controversial call marred a play that could have affected the game's outcome. At 14-14 in the rally-scored fifth game, Lutich hit the ball off a Cornell block and out, a play that should have resulted in a Harvard point. Yet referees called an error on the Crimson, saying that Lutich hit the ball into the net and out, leading to a crucial Cornell point.

Despite the call, Harvard players were quick to point out that the loss was no one's fault but their own.

"We came out into the third game expecting to win too easily," Jellin said. "Cornell got focused, and we just lost it."

"We haven't been on the road much, and the loud Cornell crowd kind of threw a us a monkey wrench," added Lutich. "We broke down late, looking for Hart and Denniston to pull us out when we should have played all together."

Still, what was a tough loss could possibly vault the Crimson into a late-season rebound, as evidenced in the ferocious win over Columbia.

"We were looking to take two this weekend," Lutich said.

"We're striving to play as a team and come together," she later added.