Women Spikers Stumble Twice

A double wammy at the Malkin Athletic Center.

The Harvard women's volleyball team lost to Yale and Williams in front of 25 spectators at the MAC last night, dropping the Crimson's record to 3-9 overall (2-2 Ivy).

"Our serving was off tonight, and we had some lapses," Harvard Coach Wayne Lem said. "We're beating ourselves, but things could turn around this weekend."

Harvard will face Penn Friday in Philadelphia, Pa., and Princeton Saturday in Princeton, N.J.

The Crimson lost in four tough sets to Yale 15-10, 13-15, 15-9, and 18-16.

In the first set, Harvard opened up a 7-1 advantage, but the Elis closed the deficit to 10-4. Harvard did not tally a single point the rest of the set as Yale exploded for 11 consecutive points to win the match.

Harvard jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set, but the Bulldogs countered with five points to tie the game at 5-5.

Yale pulled ahead of the Crimson with five more points to take a 10-5 advantage, but the Crimson fought back to tie the game at 10-10.

Two strong spikes by Lee Polikoff and Manda Schossberger sealed the victory for the spikers in the second set.

But in the third set, the spikers found themselves behind 4-0, and the Bulldogs increased their lead to 9-3.

Harvard used some fine spikes and serves to close the deficit to 10-7, but Yale outlasted the Crimson to win the set.

The fourth set did not open well for the Crimson as the Elis jumped out to a 5-1 lead. But a couple of slams by the Jodi Cassell and Suzie Tapson pulled the Crimson back, 5-5.

Yale countered with five strong points to hold a 10-5 lead. Led by Jodi Cassell, Schossberger and Tapson, the spikers slammed their way back to a 13-13 tie.

Both teams traded points until it was a 15-15 deadlock. The longest set of the night--which lasted for 45 minutes--finally ended with a missed shot by the Crimson, and the Bulldogs squeaked out a win to take the set and the match.

"We had mental lapses after being ahead, and it cost us the game," Schossberger said.

After the Yale and Williams match ended, the Crimson took the court with a little less than two-thirds of the team left--some of the starters had gone home to study for exams.

Harvard went on to lose to Williams in two straight sets, 15-8, 15-10.

Harvard opened the first set with a 5-4 lead, but Williams rebounded to move ahead of the Crimson, 12-7. Harvard would only tally one more point before losing.

In the second set, the spikers trailed 8-2, but the Crimson made a stong surge to close Williams' lead to 12-8.