W. Volleyball Splits Matches Versus Colgate, Holy Cross

Last weekend, the Harvard women's volleyball team faced off against Colgate and Holy Cross. They came out of the round-robin affair with a win and a loss, against Holy Cross and Colgate respectively.

The Crimson took on Colgate in the first of their two matches. Although Harvard came out of the blocks well, it found itself down two games to none. "We started out well," said sophomore outside hitter Melissa Forcum. "The first two games were really close."

On the verge of losing a match in which they could have been up two instead of down two, Harvard rallied to take the third set.

However, the comeback was not to be--Colgate took the fourth set and the match.

"A lack of team communication in the fourth," said Forcum, cost the Crimson the match.

Showing their true grit, the Crimson bounced back from the aforementioned loss to beat Holy Cross 3-1 in the second contest.

"Colgate was a more experienced and skilled team," said junior Elissa Hart--the resident Ivy League Player of the Week.

However, the story of the weekend was the hitting of senior co-captain Heather Rypkema. She led the team in kills and had an outstanding hitting percentage.

Hart put the results in perspective.

"[Our play was] good at times and bad at times. We were and have been plagued by inconsistent play," the junior said. "We know that we have the potential to play really well, but it does not always happen."

But the mixed results of this weekend and the Crimson's 2-6 overall record is somewhat deceptive.

Harvard started out playing a tough out-of-league schedule, which included the likes of Georgetown, Utah State and the University of Rhode Island.

All things considered, the lady spikers still have the proverbial meat of their schedule--or more specifically, the tenderloin--ahead of them.

They expect that their slow start will be soon forgotten, as they prepare to feast upon weaker Ivy League teams.

"Everyone is fired up to start playing Ivies," Hart said. "We have started out with some really tough competition. There are a lot of evenly matched teams in the Ivies this year, and there's no reason we can't win."

Although some think that early out-of-conference walkovers are the way to start a successful campaign, Harvard has chosen the other option--taking on quality competition from the get-go.

It will prove to be excellent preparation for an ultra-competitive Ivy League, so long as the players are not wholly consumed with their record on paper.

Like Lot's wife, the Crimson must look ahead to its upcoming matches.

Harvard opens up its Ivy League season at Dartmouth on Friday.