W. Volleyball Moves Back to Middle of Ivy Pack

Resilience shone through Saturday afternoon for the Harvard women's volleyball team (10-10, 2-3 Ivy) as it claimed victory at Dartmouth (8-12, 3-2 Ivy) despite falling behind early in Hanover, N.H.

After losing a close first game 15-12, Harvard rallied back to win the next three games with increasing success, 15-11, 15-10 and 15-5.

Harvard came into the match with positive momentum following two relatively easy three-game wins last week against league rival Columbia and Quinnipac last week.

"We had a really good warm-up and came into the match really confident," said sophomore outside hitter Liz Cebron. "It took us losing the first game to realize that we had to step up our efforts."

The Crimson's victory came from a complete team effort Saturday, led by junior outside hitter Erin Denniston's 22 kills, seven digs and eight blocks.

Senior outside hitter Angela Lutich also added 17 kills and twelve digs to the victory. Senior co-captain Katherine Hart also posted another impressive match with a solid all-around game, including 14 kills and 13 digs.

Sophomore setter Mindy Jellin once again catalyzed the offense with 51 assists, also contributing defensively with a team-high 15 digs.

Crimson sophomore Nicole Meunier, a recent transfer from Dartmouth, dug 10 of her former teammates' spikes.

Harvard defied a record-setting effort by the Big Green's Ashley Green, who nailed a Dartmouth school-record 35 kills en route to the defeat.

After losing its first three league games, Harvard has now clawed back into the middle ranks of the Ivy League with a respectable 2-3 record.

"We have better chemistry now than we did at the beginning of the year," Cebron said.

Next weekend, with the season nearing an end, the team returns to its Ivy League schedule away from Cambridge with visits to Yale and Brown.

Yale is currently tied with the Crimson at 2-3 in the Ivy, and Brown is the Ivy cellar-dweller with a 1-4 record. Those two games will close out the Ivy League regular season. Harvard will host the Ivy tournament in November after three non-conference games against Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and Marist.

Before that though, the road warriors hope to carry their recent momentum home on Tuesday, returning to the Malkin Athletic Center on to face Providence.

Providence, which plays in the tough Big East conference, is coming off a 3-2 win over conference foe Villanova, which improved the Friars' record to 16-9.