Spikers Lose Ross to Illness, Take on Princeton in NCAAs

Misfortunes are befalling the Harvard men's volleyball team at the most inconvenient time; the playoffs. Yesterday's news that star middle blocker Jon Ross' tests for mononucleosis were positive has placed Coach Ihsan Gurdal's squad in a quandary two days before the NCAA Eastern Regionals, which start tomorrow in the IAB.

The Crimson's biggest gun at 6'6". Ross was voted the most valuable player in last weekend's New England Championship, which Harvard won for the second straight year. The sophomore's absence leaves "a lot of question marks with only one practice left," senior Captain Brad Martin said yesterday. "We may have to get guys to play in positions they haven't played since high school.

Sean Doyle or David Perkel are likely to fill in for Ross Sunday. Doyle has been injury-ridden since February, while other problems concern Mark Chang, sidelined with tendinitis in both knees since the squad's regular season finale against Springfield.

As circumstances stand, much of the offensive burden will lay on the shoulders of junior David Twite and sophomore Mohan Nadkarni. Fortunately, the two spikers have produced their best performances in the last ten days, when the team needed it most.

One consolation for the spikers is that Princeton, Harvard's opponent in the semifinal game, will miss its 6'8" middle blocker, a nemesis of Ross' in past years.

The two teams have not met each other so far this year so the Crimson's only indication of the Tigers' strength is their matches against common opponents. Princeton split two meetings each with East Stroudsburg and New Jersey Institute of Technology en route to a 7-3 league record. Comparatively, Harvard split its meetings against NJIT and defeated East Stroudsburg in the East Coast Volleyball Open, 2-1.

Princeton is undergoing a rebuilding year since losing its two-time Ivy League MVP to graduation last year. "They're a slightly weaker team than they were last year, and we're a little better," Martin said.

The other semi-final match pits a strong University of Pittsburgh squad against underdog Albany State. The Panthers' fast, confusing offense, featuring much switching and low, quick sets should dominate Albany State. Should Harvard meet Pitt in the finals the spikers will counter the Panthers' furious pace with quickness up front from Chang and Twite. In this scenario Ross' height will be especially missed.