The word for the day was "stuff," as the Harvard women's volleyball team blocked its way to a straight set victory over Holy Cross yesterday in Worcester, Mass. The Crimson (9-7 overall, 1-1 Ivy) cruised 15-6, 15-13, 15-10.

Kathy Griffin, a junior in her first year with the team, punctuated victories in the first two sets with strong blocks characteristic of the whole night.

Following a lackluster performance in last weekend's Sideout Husky Tournament, Coach Wayne Lem decided that the team would need to make the commitment to work harder if it wanted to raise its level of play above mediocrity.

Following Monday's practice, which was filled with sprints and pushups, Lem was happy with the team's victory over the Crusaders.

"Coach is working us hard and we're responding to it," defensive specialist Mari Rodriguez said. "The tough practice made us feel like we were making progress."

Fault Five

One thing Lem was not happy with was Harvard's five serving errors in the second set which allowed the Crusaders to stay close.

The Crimson continued to roll in the third set, breezing to a 14-6 lead. Holy Cross closed the gap to 14-10 before Harvard ended the set and the match.

Lem told his team that the hard practices would continue throughout the week before the Crimson's Saturday match at Dartmouth.

Although it does not expect problems from the Big Green, the Crimson looks to the match as a chance to test its concentration on areas such as serving.

THE NOTEBOOK: The absence of Co-Captain Carolyn Burger allowed freshman setter Jennifer Garcia to get playing time and to learn to run the offense in a game situation.