Despite Being Eliminated From Title Contention, Women's Volleyball Looking To Move Up Ivy Ladder

Losses, especially against Ivy League rivals, are hardly ever motivating. But coming off a close five-set loss against conference-leading Princeton last weekend, Harvard will be hungry to win against two other Ancient Eight opponents on the road trip of the season.

The Crimson (6-13, 4-6 Ivy) pressed hard against the Tigers (16-3, 10-0) in the group’s last matchup, pushing out to a 6-5 fifth set lead before ultimately losing, 15-10. Princeton came in with 26 straight set wins in Ivy League play and a 13-match win streak overall.

All-in-all, Harvard hopes that the strong performance will translate to the contests coming up this weekend, which are against less successful opponents.

“I think [the loss] will definitely fuel us because we know we could have beaten Princeton, even though they are the top team in the league right now,” said junior outside hitter Paige Kebe. “It just shows that if we can hang with the top team in the league, we can hang with anyone and definitely beat anyone in the league.”

The Crimson will travel to Ithaca to face Cornell (10-10, 4-6) Friday evening, looking to avenge a heartbreaking five-set loss earlier in the season. On Oct. 15, Harvard held a commanding 10-2 lead in the fifth set, but could not hold on, losing by a 15-12 score to the Big Red.

“Obviously, they are two wins that we need to get and they are pretty do-able,” Kebe said. “It’s always tough to be on the road, but it’s been nice to be home for a while so we’ve had a little bit of time to recharge our batteries and try to get refocused.”

Although out of contention for a conference title due to early season losses, the Crimson can still gain a couple of positions in the standings before the season’s end with strong performances. The showdown against Cornell will be its first opportunity to do so.

On paper, a victory should be attainable for Harvard. Both teams are evenly matched and have identical conference records. But the result will likely come from much more than just the numbers in the statistics book. The Crimson will have its last game against Big Red in the back of its mind and must play a complete game, both physically and mentally while on the court.

“I think that we have some really talented players,” said sophomore middle blocker Christina Cornelius. “What we really need to do is focus on the mental aspect and then put the mental and physical aspects together so that we can play a complete game.”

Failure to execute in key situations led to Harvard’s defeat the first time around. But having gone through that experience, the same defeat may also be the key spark to a victory on Friday on the road.

“After the game, we really stepped up the intensity and focus in practice,” Cornelius said. “We tried to treat all the drills we did as close to game situations as possible.”

The Crimson women will need the preparation as they deal with an unnerving crowd on Cornell’s senior night as well as the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week in Carla Sganderlla, who recorded two consecutive double-doubles in last weekend’s games.

The Crimson will have a quick turnaround following its first matchup, travelling downstate to take on Columbia (11-9, 6-4) on Saturday in an attempt to complete a season sweep against the Lions.

Harvard’s win against the Lions, which currently sit third in the Ivy League, has been its sole victory against a league opponent with a better record. Despite an otherwise disappointing Ivy League performance thus far this season, the Crimson handily won that matchup in three sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-11.

The Columbia game directly contrasts Harvard’s game against Cornell. The Crimson won the first two, highly contested sets. Then in the third set, the Lions raced out to a 5-2 lead. But rather than sit with its lead, Harvard went on a 23-6 run to cap off the victory.

A fighting mentality is key for prolonged success against Columbia, in addition to the remaining portion of the conference schedule.

“Our overall goal is just to win out and finish our last four games strong,” Kebe said. “We have had injuries and all sorts of issues going on this year, but we are just really trying to overcome that and focus on winning out.”