W. Volleyball Whips Wildcats, 3-0

For the second time this season, the Harvard women's volleyball team used a road victory over the UNH Wildcats to boost its self-esteem after suffering through a disappointing weekend.

The Crimson (14-11, 5-2 Ivy) beat UNH (19-10, 8-1 America East) in three straight games at Lundholm Gymnasium last night, 15-10, 15-7, 15-10. Earlier this season, the Crimson snapped a three-match losing streak by defeating the Wildcats in five tough games at the University of Connecticut Tournament.

"We're all really happy with the win because it was a good win for our team," co-captain Linda Jellison said. "We played UNH earlier in the season, and it was a tough match because they're always a good team, and it's always a tough match with them. But we were just there [last night], and they weren't."

The multifaceted Harvard offense hit all the right notes last night, racking up 39 kills and only 16 errors for the match. The Crimson wound up with an impressive .197 hitting percentage against the Wildcats.

Junior middle hitter Katherine Hart led the Crimson with 13 kills and a match-best four aces. Co-captain Kristen Schaeffer and sophomore outside hitter Erin Denniston both contributed to the dynamic Harvard offensive attack with seven kills, and freshman setter Mindy Jellin tacked on 29 assists and 15 digs on the night.

For the Wildcats, junior outside hitter Katie Jentes led the way with nine kills, and senior Leisha Campbell recorded eight kills and 12 digs against the Crimson.

In the first game, Harvard fell into an early 6-2 hole before winning seven consecutive points on freshman outside hitter Liz Cebron's serve. After gaining a quick 9-6 advantage, the Crimson never allowed the Wildcats to regain the lead. Harvard won the first game, 15-10.

The Wildcats again jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in Game 2, but the Crimson battled back. Harvard ran off 13 consecutive points, surging to a 13-4 lead and cruising to an easy 15-7 game win.

"Something that we've learned this season is that we can make mistakes and then still be able to come back later," Jellison said. "We've learned that we can shrug it off and come back a better team."

Instead of falling behind early again, the Crimson reversed the trend of the first two games by taking an early 3-0 lead over the Wildcats in Game 3. After Harvard gained a 14-7 advantage over the Wildcats, UNH closed the gap to 14-10 before Harvard forced a side-out. Denniston then served the game-winner for the Crimson.

The Crimson will host the Harvard Invitational this weekend at the Malkin Athletic Center, playing Siena on Friday afternoon and Marist and SUNY-Stony Brook on Saturday.

The Harvard Invitational will serve as the team's final tune-up before the Ivy League Championships at Dartmouth next weekend. After beating Brown and losing to Yale in a crucial Ivy League homestand this weekend, Harvard earned the No. 3 spot at the tournament.

"We've played all of those teams [Marist, Siena, and Stony Brook] before," Jellison said. "We know who we're up against and what they can do, but we definitely want to play the best that we can before the Ivies. We really want to be able to execute well this weekend and prepare for the tournament."

After its confidence-booster against UNH last night, Harvard should be ready for the big pageant at home this weekend.