Volleyballers Open at Home Tonight

The Harvard women's volleyball team has been waiting a long time for today.

Today there won't be a busride or the usual hassles involved with a road game: the Crimson will play at home for the first time all season.

The squad (3-6 overall) will face-off against Providence tonight at 7 p.m. at the MAC.

"We have been playing for a month and haven't gotten a home game," noted senior co-captain Judy Iriye. "We're very excited to play in front of friends after having two tournaments and a match away."

Tonight's match provides the Crimson with an exciting challenge as it takes on Providence. The Friars will be a tough challenge for the Crimson

"They are a strong team from a strong league," Iriye said.

She added, however, that a win is very possible.

"We need to maintain a strong offense and back it up with a strong defense," Iriye said. "If we are strong both mentally and physically, we can win."

The Crimson is coming off of a convincing victory against Holy Cross. It went into the Wednesday night match 2-5 and came out with a big confidence boost. It beat the Crusaders in three straight games.

"We are really happy with the win," Iriye said.

Highlighting the success of the volleyball team have been some outstanding contributions from the freshman.

Maybe the most prominent exhibition of freshman strength came at the Connecticut Tournament September 24, where freshman Elissa Hart was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Hart had 12 kills and seven blocks in the Crimson's 3-2 win over Fair-field in the second game of the tournament, and had ten kills in a 3-0 loss to Connecticut, the eventual tourney champion.

"The freshmen are doing very well," Iriye said.

In general, the team has shown improvement in each of its nine matches this season.

Team members are pleased with these developments.

"We feel very good about what the team is doing," said Zaire Dinzey, a senior from Puerto Rico. "We are working very hard, our mental game is getting better, and we feel we are accomplishing our goals."

After the Providence game, the Crimson will continue its homestand this weekend. It will play Penn on Friday at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday at 2 p.m.