Women's Spikers Finish 1-2 at Georgetown Invitational

This past weekend saw the Harvard women's volleyball team face three competitors in a tournament at McDonough Gym in Virginia.

The Harvard team (1-5 overall, 0-0 Ivy) faced stiff competition, garnering one win in three matches played. After winning against Radford University, 3-2, in Friday's match, Harvard fell against Georgetown, 0-3, and the University of Delaware, 1-3, Saturday.

Harvard struggled to defeat Radford University in five games, mounting a comeback to win the last three games. Junior Elissa Hart was a big contributor with 19 kills and four aces.

Down 0-2 and facing defeat, Harvard captured the momentum by winning a tough third set, 17-15. The Crimson then squeezed out a 15-13 victory in the fourth set before finally putting away a disheartened Radford squad 15-8 in the final frame.

Coming off an inspiring win over Radford, Harvard had the unenviable position of beginning Saturday's competition versus Georgetown.

The Hoyas--one of the toughest teams that the Crimson face this season--thoroughly dominated play, disposing of Harvard in straight sets, 5-15, 12-15, 9-15.

Following that thrashing, Harvard played a much closer game against the University of Delaware, losing 12-15, 12-15, 17-15, 16-18. Hart again came up big for the Crimson, pounding out 28 kills in a losing effort.

One problem that plagued the Crimson throughout the tournament was their failure to take an early lead. Harvard went down 0-2 in each of its games and managed to rally only once.

Still, despite the 1-2 finish at the tournament, the Harvard players remained upbeat.

"Our goal from day one has been to win the Ivy League Championship," sophomore Melissa Forcum said. "We came so close last year."

To accomplish that, Harvard must concentrate on its defense. While its offensive performance in this past tournament was more than adequate--and especially solid when the team was passing well--Harvard will have to improve its defensive game for later competition.

"Our offense is there. Defensively we have to improve to get a quick side-out," sophomore Katherine Nash said.

As the season enters full swing, these non-league games will provide valuable experience for later Ivy League games.

"These teams are as good as we'll see all season," Hart added. "They are a notch above Ivy League competition."

The Crimson start their league competition a week from Friday against Dartmouth. This weekend, however, Harvard will compete against Holy Cross and Colgate at Holy Cross for more non-league games. Harvard  0 Georgetown  3

Harvard  1 Delaware  3

Harvard  3 Radford  2

Harvard  1 Delaware  3

Harvard  3 Radford  2

Harvard  3 Radford  2