The Harvard volleyball team boosted its slate to 15-5 Saturday by demolishing first the State University of New York at New Paltz, and then Queensboro, in a tri-meet at the IAB.
Teamwork was the key in both games as the Crimson squad rolled over New Paltz with a 15-10, 15-6, 16-14 crushing. Then, after losing the first game to Queensboro by a 15-11 score, Harvard rallied for an impressive victory by winning three in a row, 15-7, 15-2, 15-13. "We played super as a team," commented spiker Joe Antennucci yesterday.
In the first game, the setting of captain Steve Kay and Joe Shlegeris reached its high point of the season, and it paid off as the spikers were able to convert the sets into points producing an easy victory.
Queensboro, who just a week before almost upset Delaware, one of the best teams in the ECAC, provided the Crimson volleyballers with a much tougher time than New Paltz. But a fine spiking performance changed the momentum of the game and Queensboro was unable to recover.
Junior cap tain Steve Kay, who last year was named the most valuable player in the ECAC, led the spikers in perhaps their finest performance of the year, as they cut the ball much more finely and made far better angle shots than they have previously this season. Once the spikers were able to adjust to Queensboro's extremely effective blocking, they had no further problems with the upset-minded New York squad.
Behind Yale
The double victory leaves the Crimson in third place in the Northeastern division of the ECAC, behind Yale and defending champion Springfield. In order to compete in the finals of the ECAC on April 19, the squad must finish first in their division. If the team is to do this, it must beat both.
Yale and Springfield. It will play both within three weeks, and both have already beaten the Crimson this year.
The problem the Harvard squad faces is one of practice. Springfield and Yale, like most ECAC teams, practice at least 18 hours a week. Due to the club status of the sport at Harvard, however, and the subsequent problem of obtaining floor time at the IAB, the Crimson team rarely practices over 8 hours a week.
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