Bears Devour Spikers In Three Quick Games

Well, Ditka was nowhere to be seen, but Da Bears certainly proved something to women's volleyball fans last night. The Washington University Bears, that is.

The Harvard women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 loss (15-4, 15-1, 15-6) to an experienced Wash U. team last night at the Malkin Athletic Center.

Without starting setter, Co-Captain Jennifer Garcia, who was sidelined due to a knee injury, the team dropped its fourth straight match. It is currently 2-4 in non league play.

After the defeat, Coach Walter Lem said, "The team is trying to find itself right now. We're only in the third week of the season, and we have a lot of work ahead of us."

Sophomore starter Zaire Dinzey also felt that the team is still coming together.

"We played pretty well, but we still need to get used to each other," Dinzey said.

One reason the Crimson is struggling is because the team is so young. Only three seniors, were listed on the team roster last night. The rest of the squad consists of freshmen and sophomores.

In contrast, the seasoned Bears, the defending NCAA champions (Division III), seemed fairly confident before, during and after the match.

The first game set the tone for the evening. The Bears jumped to an early 5-0 lead, primarily because Harvard made a series of sloppy errors. The Crimson had problems setting the ball and placing its shots.

By the time Wash U. had upped the score to 11-1 (according to playground rules, this would be considered a "skunk"), Harvard got into its groove and cleared up some of its communication problems.

Unfortunately, Wash. U. was more than prepared, finishing off the game 15-4. Throughout the night, the Bears dominated the Crimson, taking the next two contests easily. Wash U. hit the ball harder, set more crisply and passed more accurately.

Much of that can be explained by the amount of experience the two teams had. Wash U. has played as a team together for over a month, while Harvard is only in the third week of its season.

Lem said that Harvard has two main tasks for the upcoming weeks: to recover from injuries and work on team chemistry.

The Crimson won't have much time to do that before its next match. Harvard hosts Army tomorrow at 1 p.m.

THE NOTEBOOK:

One fortysomething women in the crown, donned in Harvard regalia, came up with a curious explanation for Wash U.'s volleyball prowess: "It's the uniforms. They have better uniforms," she exclaimed. Whether or not they proved the difference in the contest, the Bears' outfits were clearly more sophisticated, complete with green spandex and color-coordinated headgear...A more practical explanation for the Bears' performance may have been fan support. Even though the team is from St. Louis, Wash. U. had twice as many fans as the Crimson. They even had a ball girl...Harvard's only lead of the night came in the third game. The Crimson led 3-1 at one point.