Women's Volleyball Overpowers Columbia, Winning 3-0

It has recently been said that violence is over-glorified in society today, and that people reap too much pleasure from brutality. If that is indeed the case, they must have been doing cartwheels in the MAC last night.

Anyone who witnessed the Harvard women's volleyball team massacre Columbia saw dominance personified. The Crimson (8-6 overall, 1-2 Ivy) cruised to its first Ivy League victory and second consecutive straight game win, 15-2, 15-11, 15-7.

"We stayed focus, and we played our game. We didn't play at the level of the other team," coach Jennifer Bates said. "I think mentally [the team] was really geared up to have their first Ivy home match."

It was evident from the onset that Columbia (6-11, 0-4) was in for a long night, or actually a pretty quick one. Harvard jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first game behind the intensity of sophomore Lolita Lopez and freshman setter Kate Nash. They never looked back, taking game one 15-2 and engulfing the Lions in a Crimson wave from which they would not escape.

The match exemplified every aspect of what it takes to win--physical dominance, mental focus and strong leadership. Nash was the crafty field general once again, running an offense that was executed nearly flawlessly. She had an outstanding 26 assists, but those numbers are becoming commomplace for the freshman. Lopez was the chief beneficiary of Nash's performance, leading the Crimson with 10 kills and 17 digs.

"I had some rough spots...but I think the team helped me come out of them," Lopez said. "The first game we really came in and commanded....Everyone concentrated on what they had to do."

The Crimson seemed to have the second game well in hand, taking a 10-3 lead. Harvard let down its guard momentarily, though, and Columbia battled its way back to pull within one at 12-11.

That's when captain Jen Jose (6 k, 4 blocks) called her team in and gave them some words of inspiration. Harvard immediately got the side out, and proceeded to rip off the last three points of the game, behind the serve of--who else--Jen Jose. The final point came on a tremendous kill by Sarah Logan (7 k, 2 bl.). That's what leadership is all about; that's what heart is all about; that's what this team is all about.

"In the second game we had some lapses, but we still came through," Logan said. "When we're playing as a team, I think we're pretty much unstoppable."

The third game can be summed up very easily: it was Nash and freshman Melissa Forcum (9 k) diving, Lopez and Jose hustling, and Logan and Elissa Hart (7 k, 4 bl., 9 d) devastating. The score got as close as 9-7 before Harvard decided to stop giving Columbia nice dreams.

That's when Jose came through yet again with an unbelievable smash for a side out. Forcum quickly followed with a powerful cross-court rocket that left two Lions frozen on the court and left the scoreboard reading 10-7, Harvard. The match ended without Columbia scoring again.

"This game our skills were on, our attitude was on. I mean everything was just kind of meshing and clicking," captain Jen Jose said.

This victory was definitely a sweet one for the Crimson, who seemed to have every weapon working with deadly accuracy. Harvard now will have to face a strong Cornell team this afternoon at home, and the way the Crimson has been playing lately, they have nothing but confidence going in, and that could be all they need.

"If we play like we did tonight, I don't think anything can go wrong," Jose said.