Men's Volleyball

Weekend victories over Yale and the New Jersey Institute of Technology upped the Harvard men's volleyball team's record to 5-0 overall, 3-0 in divisional play.

The spikers overwhelmed the weaker Elis, 15-6, 15-4, 15-10, Saturday. Yale just couldn't match up against the Crimson, and Harvard was never in danger of losing a game.

Sunday things were different, as the spikers met up with their first real competition all year. New Jersey had the greater size and strength, but the Crimson played superior volleyball, pulling off a 13-15, 15-4, 15-5, 6-15, 15-3 triumph.

Harvard, which last year enjoyed its best volleyball season ever, looks even better this time around. The addition of sophomore middle blocker Mohan Nadkami and a year of experience for the other five starters has more than compensated for the loss of hitter Jon Tanaka, who is taking a year off in Japan, and setter Tom Houlihan, who graduated last year.

Nadkami is the biggest surprise of the early season. He played junior varsity basketball as a freshman last year, then decided this fall that he was ready for something new. Recruited by Captain Brad Martin. Nadkami had never played volleyball before. He has learned faster than anyone had expected.

Nadkami isn't the only vital addition to the squad. First-year Coach Mehmet Irsan Gurdal brings the intensity and experience of a former Turkish national team member to his new job.

"There's a lot of talent on the team," Gurdal said. "Consistency is their problem."

Consistency was indeed a problem Sunday, as the team alternately displayed indications of how good it can become and reminders of how far it has to go. In the fourth game, simple passing and setting posed problems for the Crimson, but in the third and fifth games they sometimes defended so well that more of their oponents were horizontal than vertical at any one time.