In a tri-meet against Smith and Wellesley yesterday afternoon, the Harvard women's volleyball team split the competition, losing in straight sets to Smith and redeeming itself with a straight sets win against Wellesley.

In the first set against Smith, the Crimson experienced technical difficulties which first surfaced in last weekend's losses to Albany State and Williams. But, after finding themselves down 2-12, the spikers rallied to narrow the margin of defeat to 13-15 Smith then rebounded to take the next set and the match from the Crimson, 15-7.

"We worked through some problems of playing with new people in the lineup," Coach Karyn Altman said.

To add more depth and flexibility to the Crimson's pass-set-spike attack Altman has begun trying new players in different spots, until she finds the best network of players.

The new combination seemed to come together in the second match against Wellesley After downing the Wellesley spikers in a hard-fought, up-at-the-net battle, 15-13, the Crimson took its cue from the Smith squad and claimed the next game with a thorough 15-6 decision.

Alterations

Altman later praised the altered lineup--Cathy Wong at setter, Linda Lockhart and Ellen Schreiber as outside hitters and passers. Ann Diamond and Nina Henderson at center positions, and Kathy Yanelli as a side hitter.

"They did an excellent job, considering the fact that they had really never played together before," she noted.

In Monday's practice, Altman announced her traveling 10 and readjusted the varsity and J.V. lineups However, while Altman shifted the roster to determine who would make the all-important starting six, the Crimson went from an impressive 3-0 beginning to a 5-3 record. Team members hope to better that mark in a tournament at Northeastern this weekend.