Spikers Look to Bombard Lowell, Return Home For Big Showdown

It may be a little premature to label the Harvard women's volleyball team the surprise of the 1987-'88 season--since the season has barely begun--but the Crimson is already turning heads and turning back opponents.

Prior to this season, Harvard had won only nine of 42 matches. But this year, the Crimson has quietly posted a respectable 8-3 mark.

Even more impressive is the fact that 10 of the team's 11 matches were on the road.

Advantage: Harvard

The Crimson's 8-3 record represents its best start since its inception as a varsity sport in 1981. Tonight's match against Lowell (15-4 overall) is Harvard's first home match since the squad opened the season with a straight set victory over Wellesley last month.

"It should be a good match," Co-Captain Maia Forman said. "I think our hitters are stronger and quicker."

Last year at Lowell, the home team came back from a two-set deficit to capture a tough five-set victory over the Crimson, which dropped Harvard's record to 3-13.

This year, Harvard will enter the contest with an improved record and the confidence that goes along with it.

We Hardly Knew Ye

After the Lowell match, the Crimson will hit the road once again, playing four away matches, before hosting defending Ivy champion Penn and perennial powerhouse Princeton on the weekend of October 23.

Penn is the favorite to capture its fourth Ivy title.

If Harvard is to be considered a threat to the Ivy title, it will have to make a strong showing against both squads. Win or lose, though, Harvard will get another crack at both teams in the Ivy League Tournament, in November in New York.

But before the Crimson hosts the Quakers and the Tigers, the squad will face a tough Tufts squad tomorrow--followed by Cornell, Columbia, and Yale later this month.

"The matches are important to our overall record," sophomore Lee Polikoff said. "If we win both matches we will have a 10-3 record going into our Ivy matches, which would give us a lot more confidence."

Ivy Standings through 10-05-87

HARVARD 8-3 overall, 0-0 Ivy

Penn 7-4, 2-0

Yale 8-5, 0-2

Cornell 8-5, 0-0

Princeton 6-5, 0-1

Brown 5-3, 1-0

Columbia 3-6 0-0

Note: both Penn's and Princeton's records may be a little deceiving, since both the Quakers and Tigers play tougher schedules than the other Ivy volleyball teams.