The Harvard men's volleyball team's unbeaten record in the EIVA came to an end last night, as Springfield College downed the Crimson in four games (3-15, 15-8, 15-9, 15-3) at the Malkin Athletic Center.

A major part of Harvard's offense came from 6'4" junior Per Dutton who had the 15 kills in the match.

Ned Staebler, a 6'6" freshman, also put in a good showing with 10 kills to his name.

Harvard (15-2 overall, 5-1 EIVA), led by junior Captain Vince Marin, started the contest slowly, trading possessions with Springfield (10-2, 5-0) in the opening minutes.

Sharp jumpserving by Marin and junior Brian Jones proved to be a key weapon, however, as the Crimson scored seven consecutive unanswered points to take the lead at 8-2.

After a timeout by Springfield, the Crimson continued to roll, with some spectacular spikes by Dutton, coupled with excellent blocking by the Crimson front line.

After scoring the first four points in the second game, Harvard seemed to lose the momentum that it had gained, allowing Springfield to score 10 of the next 11 points.

With Marin at the service line, the Crimson managed to add five more to the scoresheet but Springfield's superior team play helped them clinch the second game, 15-8.

Marin had five aces in the match, most of them coming from his jumpserve. He also assisted most of the team's kills.

Mirror Image

Miscommunication between players, careless ball-handling and some controversial calls by the umpire visibly disturbed Harvard and Coach Ihsan Gurdal.

The third games was almost a mirror image of the second: the Crimson took an early-game lead, but was unable to hold on to it.

Junior Cody Church and sophomore Jon Carpenter managed to revive the team late in the game with a few consecutive kills, but Springfield persevered to take the game, 15-8.

Leading two games to one, Springfield took the court at the beginning of the fourth contest with confidence, scoring the first 10 points before allowing Harvard its first.

Even Harvard senior Gino Patrizio's effort to spark the team with late match kills failed to revive the Crimson.

"Yes, we played bad today but we're looking to rebound against Roger Williams on Thursday and at the EIVA tournament at MIT this weekend," sophomore Mike Meyer said.