Spikers Fall in Eastern Playoffs

Unable to penetrate the best block on the East Coast, the Harvard men's volleyball team fell to East Stroudsburg State University, 3-1, in the finals of the NCAA Eastern Regional Playoffs, Saturday night at the indoor Athletic Building.

Ir, its last match of the season the Crimson put up a tough fight, but was simply overwhelmed by the sheer might of the Stroudsberg squad.

After crushing the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 3-0, in the first round of Saturday's playoffs, Harvard seemed in prime condition to score an upset over Stroudsberg and earn a spot in the Eastern Final Four.

The Crimson had lost its three encounters with Stroudsberg earlier this year, however each of these matches was, extremely close, indicating that the spikers were capable of turning the tables on their regional rivals at any time.

On Saturday, unfortunately for Harvard, that time was not at hand.

Stroudsberg was on its own quest for revenge after Princeton knocked it off in this same round of the eastern playoffs last year.

"The memory of that upset got them fired," said outside hitter Scott Alpert. "They're one of the top three teams in the East--they were not about to lose to an Ivy League school in the playoffs again."

And from the very first game of the match, it became evident that Stroudsberg was determined to win.

Stroudsberg cruised ahead to an 8-0 lead before the Crimson knew what was happening. The spikers rallied to score nine points late in the game, but the comeback was futile, as the visitors clinched the first, 15-9.

In the second game, Alpert began to penetrate the outside, and it looked like Harvard's offense might really come to life. But Stroudsberg quickly reasserted its dominance on the net, and shut the Crimson down 15-3.

But in the third game, things finally began to come together for Harvard. The senior trio of Alpert and Co-Captains Mohan Nadkarni and Sean Doyle broke through Stroudsberg's blocking wall, spurring the spikers to an 8-3 lead.

Stroudsberg fought back, and even led 11-10, but the Crimson didn't let up.

Nadkarni served three straight to put Harvard ahead 13-11, and at game point, junior Seth Farber smashed through Stroudsberg's off-side block for a 15-12 Crimson victory.

In the fourth and final game, the visitors went into overdrive, hitting harder and blocking better than they had all day. With three men overing the outside, Stroudsberg was able to shut down Harvard's powerside offense--its greatest weapon--and take a 12-0 lead that turned into a 15-6 triumph.