"We played a tremendous first quarter and got really overconfident," Freed said.

The next round was against Richmond. The Crimson chased the Spiders away, 15-4.

In the final game against Washington & Lee, Harvard, up 5-4 in the half, went on a 6-0 run and eventually won the game, 12-6.

"We worked out a lot of problems on offense. There was a lot more motion against Washington & Lee," Freed said. "Rather than just taking the shot, people started making the extra pass, unlike the Army game."

The Crimson can thank goalie Peter Toot for squashing the W & L attack when it really counted.

"It was definitely his best game of the season," Freed said.

The fifth-place earned the Crimson the sixth seed in next month's Eastern Championships, which will also be held in Annapolis.

Harvard will most likely face Brown, the third seed, in the opening round of that tournament. This weekend at Blodgett, the Crimson takes on the Bruins in a battle of Ivy rivals.

"It really doesn't matter if you're seeded third or sixth," Freed. "You're going to play the same way."

After dropping a tough four-set match to Cornell on Friday, the Harvard women's volleyball team faced an overnight bus ride late Friday night and then the Columbia Lions on Saturday. Traffic stalled the team en route to Manhattan, and the Crimson was forced to prepare hastily for its match.

The Crimson's late arrival may have contributed to its slow start against Columbia, as Harvard fell to the Lions in three sets.

"We are notorious for starting slowly. We were a little sluggish at the beginning of the game," Co-Captain Carolyn Burger said. "We let them get points early, which turned out to be the difference because all of the sets were close."

Problems

A major cause for the Crimson's loss on Saturday was the inefficiency of its offense, due in most part to its lackluster passing. Harvard (3-7 overall, 0-2 Ivy) failed to move the ball effectively on its side of the net and was unable to set and spike well.

"Our passing game was definitely our number-one problem," Burger said.

Although fatigue from the overnight bus trip affected the Crimson's game, the Lions were still tought hosts.

"They are a much-improved team. They added a lot of new girls to their squad who played well for them. They deserve credit for the win," Burger said.

Despite two losses on the road against Ivy squads, the Crimson remains optimistic about the rest of the season. Improvement is only a matter of time.

"We will improve. We have the talent to do well, but it is just a matter of putting all of the elements together and playing as a team," Burger said.