Women's Volleyball Goes 1-2 in Home Invite

The Harvard women's volleyball team discovered this weekend that strong starts don't always equal strong finishes.

The Crimson (6-7, 0-0 Ivy)lost two of three matches at the Harvard Invitational, and in both of those losses, Harvard held commanding game leads that its opponents were able to erase quickly.

Even though the Crimson dominated Wagner in three quick games on Saturday morning, it was unable to maintain its offensive firepower during its matches against Northeastern Friday night and UNH Saturday afternoon.

"It was frustrating," freshman middle hitter Mariah Posipil said. "We are having a problem finishing out games."

In spite of losing two of three matches this weekend, the Crimson ended its tournament on a high note by placing two players on the All-Tournament Team. Senior co-captain and middle hitter Katherine Hart and junior outside hitter Erin Denniston, who leads the Crimson this season with an average of 3.71 kills per game, were honored for their stellar play this weekend.

UNH 3, Harvard 2

During its final match of the tournament Saturday afternoon, Harvard faced New Hampshire (9-7). Both teams were evenly matched, but the Crimson eventually fell in five games, 15-12, 15-12, 9-15, 15-8.

"We played a great match," said Coach Jennifer Weiss. "It was hard-fought to the end."

In the first game, the two teams furiously exchanged sideouts and points, with the Wildcats finally edging out the Crimson, 15-12. In the second game, the Crimson regained its momentum and surged to a quick 9-3 lead.

While it seemed certain that Harvard would win the game and tie the match after assuming such a commanding lead, the Wildcats used crisp passing and solid blocking to come back and win the second game, 15-12.

It seemed the missed opportunity would not haunt the Crimson, as Harvard took control and easily won the third game, 15-9, with better blocking and improved passing. However, the task of coming back from a two-game deficit proved to be too difficult, and the Wildcats took the fourth game, 15-8, behind its two main offensive weapons, Alyson Coler and Jillian Ross, two dominating hitters who also won spots on the All-Tournament Team this weekend.

"It was a tough loss," Posipil said. "We played with a lot of heart and desire."

"We have to adjust and continue to play hard," Weiss added.

Despite the Crimson's sometimes subpar play against the Wildcats, Denniston and sophomore setter Mindy Jellin combined to catalyze a potent Harvard offense. Jellin, who places balls near-perfectly for the team's heavy hitters, recorded 57 assists and 18 digs. Denniston had 27 kills.

Hart also played a solid all-around game for the Crimson, recording 11 kills and 14 digs.

Harvard 3, Wagner 0

After suffering a five-game loss to Northeastern the previous night, Harvard rebounded the next morning to defeat Wagner (3-13) in three easy games, 15-5, 15-5, 15-12.

With many Crimson players seeing significant playing time throughout the match, sophomore outside hitter Liz Cebron led the Harvard offense with seven kills, and Jellin bolstered the Crimson defense with 10 digs. Denniston and Hart, who both spent significant time resting for the Crimson's next match against UNH, also recorded six kills.

Harvard easily dismantled Wagner's offense, with no Seahawk recording more than six kills for the entire match. With strong blocking and serving by the Crimson, Harvard won the first game, 15-5, and maintained its offensive momentum to win the second game, 15-5.

The Seahawks threatened to make a dent in the Crimson's lead in the third game, but Harvard quickly silenced Wagner's offense, winning the final game 15-12.

Northeastern 3, Harvard 2

The Crimson's first match of the tournament was against Northeastern (6-10) on Friday night. Harvard trailed throughout most of the match and fell 16-14, 13-15, 15-3, 15-9.

Harvard started off slowly and soon found itself trailing 11-4 in the first game. The Crimson offense finally revved itself up and exploded to take a 14-13 lead, but foreshadowing its play for the rest of the tournament, Harvard was not able to finish off its opponent after fighting to take the lead. The Huskies ultimately came back to win the first game, 16-14.

"We started playing well," Weiss said. "But we have to play each opponent point-for-point."

The second game of the match started with Northeastern dominating Harvard, taking a 10-2 lead early in the game. The Huskies' hitters continually found the holes in the Crimson defense, with Northeastern's Kristin Deatherage recording 21 kills against the Crimson and Lindsay Wagner tacking on 19 kills for the night.

Harvard, still hungry for the lead, tightened up its defense, used better passing and used a 13-3 run to take the game, 15-13.

After letting the second game slip out of its fingers, Northeastern regrouped its offensive corps and easily won the third game, 15-3 and the fourth game, 15-9.

In the last two games, the Huskies jumped to large early leads, which forced the weary Crimson to play catch up for the rest of the match.

"It was disappointing," Hart said. "We struggled with our consistency and gave up too many long streaks."

The loss did not overshadow strong offensive showings by Jellin and Denniston. Jellin recorded 50 assists, and Denniston led the Harvard attack with 21 kills.

Anchoring the defense were freshmen outside hitters Nathalie Miller and Allison Bendush, who recorded 15 and 16 digs, respectively. Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Meunier, a transfer student from Dartmouth, also displayed an impressive all-around game, racking up 13 kills and 19 digs.

"Hopefully, we'll learn something from this match," Weiss said. "We are trying to get ready for Ivy League competition."

The Crimson's next game will be on Wednesday at Central Connecticut, before it begins Ivy League play with matches against Princeton and Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday, respectively.