PRINCETON--The Harvard women's volleyball team entered the 12th-annual Ivy League tournament with high expectations.

When you don't reach those high expectations, it often leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.

The Crimson finished sixth at the Ivy tournament last weekend in Princeton, N.J., compiling a 1-2 mark.

Disappointment could be seen on the face of every Crimson player and coach. Last year, Harvard placed third in the tournament, two points from the finals.

After losing to Cornell in the first round and dropping to the losers' bracket last Friday, the Crimson rallied to grab an exciting five-set victory against Columbia.

Harvard defeated the Lions, 10-15, 15-13, 8-15, 15-2, 15-11, but the dream of a first-ever Ivy title came to an end in a 15-1, 15-11, 16-14 loss to 1987 Ivy champion Princeton.

"We definitely didn't play as well as we could or should have," Co-Captain Manda Schossberger. "We started off with a bad match, but we did play better against Columbia and Princeton. It comes down to inexperience."

Schossberger was named co-captain of next year's team along with Carolyn Burger.

"It had its up and downs," said Burger of the tournament. "We didn't play that well. There were a few good moments, for instance the second and third sets of the Princeton match."

Harvard has six freshmen, three sophomores and four juniors returning next year. The tournament was the last matches for Lara Akinbami, Susie Nemes, Nicole Anderson and Maia Forman, who will be remembered as one of the best setters in the Ivy League.

The Crimson's chances were hurt when sophomore Peri Wallace came down with chicken pox a day before the tournament.

"We really missed Peri," Schossberger said. "We could have used her blocking and scoring. It's been a kind of frustrating season with all of the injuries. But like [Coach Wayne Lem] says, 'We always have next year.'"

Schossberger, who was one of the finalists for Ivy Player of the Year, was named to the All-Ivy second team, while Forman, the team's captain, was placed on the honorable mention team. The University of Pennsylvania's Melissa Ingalls was named Ivy League Player of the Year.

Brown captured its first Ivy championship with a four-set win over Penn. It was the first time in 10 years that someone other than Quakers or the Tigers had won the Ivy title.

In the Crimson's second match of the tournament, Columbia jumped to a 7-0 lead. Harvard got a side-out on kill by Burger to stop the Lion run. The Crimson took advantage of the sideout by scoring eight straight points to take the lead.