W. Volleyball Drops Two Ivy Home Matches

The Harvard women’s volleyball team dropped two matches at home this weekend, falling to Brown 3-0 on Friday night before suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Elis on Saturday night.

Harvard (9-11, 2-8 Ivy) is now tied for last place in the Ivy League with Dartmouth, while Yale (9-10,3-7 Ivy) pulled itself out of the cellar with two wins on the weekend.

Brown (12-9, 7-2 Ivy) stays in second place behind Penn.

Brown set the tone early on Friday, pulling away behind the strong play of sophomore Diane Schnieder whose 16 kills and 13 digs propelled the Bears to an easy 30-13 win in the first match.

The Crimson finally got going in game two, staying with Brown throughout the match and taking a 27-24 lead thanks to timely kills by

sophomore middle hitter Lauren Gallagher and junior Nicole Meunier.

The play of co-captain Erin Denniston was another factor in the Crimson’s second-game surge. Her match high 16 kills equaled the 16 put up by Schnieder.

The Crimson could not hold on to its lead, however, and dropped the decision by a final margin of 31-29.

In what proved to be the final game of the match, Brown built up another lead and was able to stave off another Harvard rally to win 30-21.

“There have been a number of problems plaguing the team this year”, sophomore Allison Bendush said. “Initially team chemistry, then issues with fundamentals and now gaining momentum.”

Harvard’s Saturday match against Yale was more tightly contested, but the Crimson could not find a rhythm to put away the worst team in the league.

“The match was long, and both teams played well.” freshman Pernilla Schweitzer said, “But there was a definite sense of desperateness on our side.”

Although the Bulldogs never trailed in game one, Harvard kept it close to the end, falling 30-28.

The Crimson’s strong play continued into the second game. After falling behind 29-22, the Crimson closed out the win at 31-29.

The team was lifted again by the play of Denniston who recorded her 7th kill of the night in the second game to break the all time record of 1,398 set by Ellissa Hart in 1998.

Yale regrouped in the third game and shook off the resurgent Crimson to win 30-27.

The Bulldogs then pulled away in game four to win the game, and the match, 30-22.

In addition to Denniston’s record-setting play, strong performances were turned in by Bendush and Schwietzer. Both players recorded double-doubles to keep the match close, but their efforts were not enough to hold off the Elis.

Kelly McAlearney’s 17 kills and Dana Loberg’s 23 digs lead the team from New Haven, Conn..

“This weekend was a big disappointment”, Bendush said. “We came in with high hopes of finally snapping our losing streak”.

The Crimson has now lost six straight games as it heads into this weekend’s match-up at Princeton and Penn.

With four games remaining on the schedule, Denniston will have plenty of opportunities to add to her new record.

“We are really looking to have fun in these last four games, and the fact people dont expect us to win takes a little pressure off,” Schweitzer said.