Springfield Spikers Down Crimson 3-2

A loss is a loss, but the men's volleyball team's 3-2 defeat to Springfield last night was the perfect set-up, especially for those who thrive on tourney-time suspense.

Only two matches into their season, the spikers are setting their sights on the Eastern League playoffs. While last night's defeat to highly-ranked Springfield was a set-back, the Crimson will be able to atone for their sins on Saturday, when they face Albany State, the other ECAC contender.

Earlier this week, Albany also fell to Springfield, by the same score of 3-2.

For the Crimson, which won its first league match on Monday by disposing of Yale, 3-1, last night's meet provided an important test.

First the Good News

"We humiliated them in the fourth game." Crimson co-captain Terry Trumball said, but the fifth and deciding game didn't go nearly as well.

After downing Springfield, 15-3, to tie up the match at two games a piece, the Crimson came out flat, and fell behind quickly, 5-1.

Scrambling back with key blocks from big men Dave Coatsworth (6 ft., 7 in.) and Kevin O'Sullivan (6 ft., 5 in.), the Crimson caught up at six points, but then ran out of steam.

Springfield grabbed six straight points, to make it 12-6, and that, pretty much, was that.

Lost It

"I thought we had the momentum after the fourth game," Coach Roger Martin explained, "but we gave up too many easy points."

So far this season, the Crimson has had considerable trouble with back-court play. Although the squad's big men--eight over six feet--supply plenty of front-line power, they also sacrifice a degree of speed and quickness.

The Crimson tried a new substitution strategy last night designed to compensate for that weakness, which Martin said worked out quite well.

In the all-important fifth game, Springfield's home court advantage may have made the essential difference. Playing in the Springfield bandbox gym--which makes the IAB look like the Astrodome--50 fans gave the home team an edge that Trumball throught may have been worth as much as five points.

Harvard will be on its home turf on Saturday at noon, for what Coach Martin called an "absolutely important" game.

"We saw Albany play earlier this year, and they look really tough," Martin said. "A loss would really hurt badly."

On the other hand, a win would reignitc the Crimson's tourney fever.