Leads Women Spikers to Ivy Playoffs

At the end of her sophomore year, and after two years of varsity field hockey, Maragaret Cheng suddenly "caught volleyball fever." Now she's co-captain of the women's volleyball team, and first year coach Karyn Altman says she's "tickled to death."

The women's volleyball team, in its first year of varsity competition, has already equaled its last year's win total of six, largely due to the efforts of the omnipresent Cheng. Altman, a former MIT volleyball player, says, "Margaret has great natural talent; she has great strength, quickness, and jumping ability--and an excellent 'floater' serve. Her athletic ability enables her to run the whole offense."

To Cheng, "Volleyball is a combination of finesse, controlled strength, and recklessness. It takes both discipline and a 'kamikaze spirit' to execute the various aspects of the game like serving, setting, rolling, and diving," the Kirkland House junior says. "I really like the flow of the game--intermittent rests between periods of intense action. I love volleyball. What more can I say?"

Cheng has become a team leader largely because of her brilliant play at the demanding setter position. Each time the ball crosses the net, the setter must race from her original position to the right corner of the net, field the "bump" or return of service from one of her teammates, and after quickly glancing at the opposition's defense for a potentially weak block, set up the spike for one of the frontline players.

As the focal point of Altman's 5-1 offense, she essentially directs the team and to a large extent controls the tempo of the game. Co-captain Valerie Romero, a Winthrop House senior, says, "Margaret is a dominating force; she is all over the court on every point--a really dedicated volleyball player."

Cheng's tantalizing floater serve is her most devastating offensive weapon; the ball is hit in an overhand motion on the bottom of the fist, aimed towards a gap or weak link in the opponent's defense. Cheng's floaters usually force a weak return that enables the team to "gain control of the point" and eventually put away the spike, Romero said.

The 20-year-old Cheng actually began her volleyball career seven years ago, playing for her high school team in Tustin, California. Along with volleyball, the Biology major and pre-medical student played four years of field hockey, eventually acquiring enough skill and interest in the sport to choose Harvard both for its strong academics and excellent field hockey program.

But though she says she loved the high calibre and intensity of Harvard field hockey, she was juggled between positions her freshman and sophomore years, and "never really found a home." She does not, she insists, regret the move indoors to volleyball.

Cheng speaks highly of her new teammates, and particularly of coach Altman. "Karyn is a really good coach; she differs from other coaches I have played for in emphasizing a strong defensive game--which means a lot of rolling and diving in practice."

These rough and tumble practices suit a team that, Cheng says, is "high in enthusiasm but low on experience. We are a young team, and we have some problems with team cohesion--moving together and setting up plays--when we meet up with really stiff competition, but its nothing that can't be improved through practice, experience, and enthusiasm."

The team, composed of three seniors, one junior, four sophomores, and six freshmen, has no junior varsity where talented underclassmen can develop.

Still Happy

The effusive Cheng says she's not discouraged by the relative lack of funding and interest given to women's volleyball at Harvard and all over the East, saying, "Eastern volleyball is an up and coming sport, but not yet as good as volleyball in the West. The game is basically the same, the same things are tried, practiced, and executed--its just that more people play in the West and they start younger."