Bruins Tip Spikers

It was a match that the Harvard women's volleyball team could have won. It was a match that the spikers probably should have won. But it was a match that the Crimson didn't win.

Brown (10-9, 5-2 Ivy) captured a 15-4, 12-15, 15-5, 15-8 decision to secure the third seed for the upcoming Ivy League volleyball tournament; the Crimson (7-9, 4-3 Ivy) will be seeded fourth.

The spikers' fourth-place finish in the Ivy regular season is their best-ever.

Harvard's first-round opponent is Cornell, a team that Harvard defeated in five sets earlier this month. The Big Red upset Princeton in five sets Saturday, giving the Tigers their first Ivy loss.

"We got off to a slow start," sophomore Carolyn Burger said. "We picked it up in the second game and parts of the third and fourth games. Our passing, blocking and sets were off."

"We have to play with intensity," Burger said. "I'm sure we will be able to turn things around before the Ivy tournament." The league tournament begins November 11.

In the first game, the Crimson never got on track, as the Bruins dominated Harvard in every phase of the game. After taking a 6-4 lead, Brown scored nine straight points to win the game.

But the Crimson came out in the second game fired up. Harvard sprinted out to an 8-2 lead with strong outside hitting and tough blocking.

During that 8-2 run, Burger led the way with an ace and a kill, while freshman Danni Cunningham provided the spikers with two aces. Captain Maia Forman added dinks and kills.

Brown rallied to take a 12-10 advantage, but the Crimson did not fold. A kill by Burger and a block by Peri Wallace tied the game at 12-12.

Forman then contributed an ace, senior Nicole Anderson a crucial block and Manda Schossberger a kill to help the Crimson win the second game.

Schossberger, Harvard's leading hitter for the season, maintained her level of excellence and unleashed her hitting fury and defensive prowess, despite torn ligaments in both thumbs.

Brown jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third game before the Crimson closed the deficit, 9-5. The Bruins were able to capitalize on Harvard's serving miscues. When Harvard did have the serve, service errors gave the ball right back to Brown.

Going Down

Other things contributing to Harvard's downfall were poor defensive coverage and teamwork.

"We have to work on our defense and spiking coverage," Wallace said. "It's hard to understand why we play like that sometimes. Everyone has got to want to win. We can't play as individuals."

"We need a higher level of motivation and intensity," Anderson said. "We thought we would play a lot better than we did [Saturday], but it didn't occur."

In the fourth game, the Bruins jumped out to a 13-3 lead before the Crimson rallied. Cunningham started Harvard's rally with two aces, and Schossberger added a kill, prompting Brown Coach Cathy Fulford to call a timeout.

After both teams traded sideouts on bad serves, the Bruins managed to pull out a 15-8 victory to win the game and match.

One of the few bright spots for the spikers was Lee Polikoff, who came off the bench and provided the Crimson with some tough backrow play.

The Crimson has to get back the intensity that it showed earlier in the Ivy season if it wants to contend for its first-ever Ivy title.

Harvard has the talent to beat any team in the Ivy League, but the squad has not played high-caliber volleyball recently.