W. Volleyball Rebounds, Struggles

The Harvard women's volleyball team finally snapped its six-game losing streak over the weekend with a win over Princeton Friday night at Dillon Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J.

Despite the big win, the Crimson (10-12, 3-9 Ivy) was unable to carry the momentum into Saturday's match against top-ranked Penn at the Palestra, and fell 3-0 to the Quakers.

The Tigers (12-9, 7-4 Ivy) came into Friday's match ranked third in the Ivy League, but came out flat against the last-place Crimson. Harvard took advantage of strong play by co-captains Erin Denniston and Mindy Jellin to win the match, 3-0.

The Tigers were sluggish throughout the match, but were able to keep the games close thanks to the strong play of junior Abby Struder, who recorded 15 kills and four solo blocks.

Struder's effort was not enough as Denniston recorded 17 kills, Jellin logged 43 assists and junior Nicole Meunier had 18 digs. Freshman Kaego Ogbechie added 12 kills for Harvard.

The team was excited after the upset, its most significant since the season's early weeks.

"We were really excited about finally pulling out the win," said sophomore Amy Dildine. "We played in poor facilties and had a poor warmup, but were able to overcome it all and win."

With the victory, Harvard avenged a 3-0 loss it suffered at the hands of the Tigers at home on Oct. 26.

In the second game of the road trip, Harvard was matched up against Penn (16-4, 10-1 Ivy).

The Quakers came in riding a seven-match winning streak, and combination of the momentum and a raucous home crowd would ultimately prove too much for the Crimson.

Penn recorded 10 team blocks and was lead by junior Stacey Carter, who had a career-high 20 kills. Her efforts propelled the Quakers to an easy 30-22 victory in the first game.

The Crimson fought back in game two behind the 14 digs and 10 kills put up by junor Nicole Muenier. But Penn pulled out a tight 30-28 win to take control.

In what proved to be the last game of the match, Penn notched 19 kills to win the game and the match 30-22.

The Crimson will next face Cornell and Columbia at home. Both teams are hovering around .500 as the season nears its conclusion.

"I think that to finish the season on a good note would at least make us look back on it with fonder memories and a little more dignity," Jellin said. "It would also give us a little boost going into next year."

Prior to this weekend, the Crimson had not won a match since defeating UMass on Oct. 16.