Princeton Stops W. Volleyball Twice to Take Ivy Title

Even though the Harvard women's volleyball team wasn't expected to end up with the Ivy crown this weekend, the Crimson almost succeeded in robbing the eventual champion.

The third-seeded Crimson (20-13) garnered a second-place finish at the Ivy League Championship yesterday afternoon at Dartmouth, losing to top-ranked Princeton (23-6) in five tough games, 9-15, 15-13, 15-7, 10-15, 10-15. The Crimson's only two losses at the double-elimination tournament came at the hands of the Tigers.

"Everyone on the team is really proud of how we did this weekend," co-captain Kristen Schaeffer. "We were down 2-0 in many of the matches that we played, but we were able to pull it together and fight back to win. I am just really proud of this team."

Co-captain Linda Jellison and sophomore outside hitter Erin Denniston earned spots on the All-Tournament Team for their stellar efforts this weekend. In the final match against Princeton, Jellison chalked up 21 kills and 12 digs, and Denniston added 18 kills to the Harvard attack.

Harvard began its road to the final match with a tough five-game win over Penn Friday afternoon. The Crimson won the first two games easily, 15-9 and 15-13. Penn dominated the next two games to even the score, 15-7 and 17-15.

In the fifth and final game of the match, Harvard pulled out a nailbiter with a close 16-14 victory.

"We just moved on to the next match after Penn," Jellison said. "You just can't look back when you're playing in a [double-elimination] tournament. We just told ourselves that our match against Penn was going to be a warm-up and that we couldn't look at the match before or at the match afterwards. We just had to focus on each match as we played."

In its second match of the tournament, Harvard defeated Brown in five games, 15-7, 14-16, 5-15, 15-11, 15-11. The Crimson avenged a tough five-game loss to the Bears at the end of the regular season that prevented Harvard from winning the top seed at the Ivy tournament.

Jellison led the attack against the Bears with 20 kills, and junior middle hitter Katherine Hart tacked on 16 kills. Freshman setter Mindy Jellin also had a superb game both offensively and defensively, assisting on 55 points and tallying 22 digs.

After cruising to a 2-0 record with wins over Penn and Brown, Harvard ran into its first roadblock against Princeton Saturday evening. The Tigers dominated the first two games, 15-6 and 15-13, but the Crimson rebounded to win the next two games, 16-14 and 15-9. The Tigers pulled out all the stops during the fifth and final game, winning 15-10.

During the match against the Tigers, Jellison again tallied a team-high 19 kills, and Denniston added 14 kills in the Crimson's losing effort.

Because the Ivy Championship is determined through a double-elimination system, Harvard kept its hopes alive by winning an exciting five-game match against Dartmouth in the next round.

Harvard lost the first two games against the Big Green, 9-15 and 7-15. The Crimson battled back to win the next two games, 15-9 and 15-12, to set up the deciding fifth game.

The Crimson surged to a quick 8-1 lead in the fifth game, but the Big Green's offense exploded in an 11-3 run to tie the game at 11. Jellin took a pass over the net to force a Dartmouth sideout, and the Crimson scored three straight points to pull ahead to a 14-11 lead. Jellison then delivered her 20th kill of the night to win the match for the Crimson.

In addition to Jellison's 20 kills against Dartmouth, Denniston led the team with 21 kills, and Hart added on 18 kills to bolster the explosive Harvard attack.

Harvard's win against the Dartmouth set the Crimson up for another showdown against Princeton, whom it had beat in the regular season in three easy games. Because the Crimson was now playing in the consolation bracket because of the earlier loss in the tournament to the Tigers, Harvard would have had to win its fifth-round match against the Tigers and then another best-of-three-game tie-breaking match in order to decide the champion.

In the fifth round, Princeton won the first game handily, 15-9, but Harvard answered with a 15-13 victory in the second game. The Crimson took a 2-1 game lead by winning the third game 15-7, but Princeton crushed Harvard's championship hopes by winning the last two games, 15-10 and 15-10.

"We gave it our all in the last match, and we left it all out on the court," Schaeffer said. "Princeton is a really good team, and we were disappointed because we lost, but in the end, we're proud of the effort that we put into it."

The Crimson's bittersweet loss to the Tigers in the final round marked the last match for four talented seniors who have left their mark on Harvard volleyball.

Schaeffer, Jellison and defensive specialists Kristin Priscella and Laurel Rayburn played their last matches in a Harvard uniform this weekend and were proud of the Crimson's second-place finish this weekend.

"It's sad that my career is over, but I'm happy with the way that we finished," Jellison said. "This is definitely the best Harvard volleyball team that I've played on."