There is but one question surrounding the Harvard women's volleyball team as it prepares for the 1995 season: Will the winning trend continue?

True, a 12-17 mark isn't going to set any records for dominance, and don't think that the Crimson is satisfied with the record--below .500 is below .500.

But the 1994 season had to be considered a relative success. The previous two seasons saw Harvard win 13 games and lose 30, which makes that type of improvement really good news.

"I think we're just more stable," co-captain Jennifer Jose said. "We won't be as erratic--we'll be more stable with our wins."

Erratic is a light way of putting it. At times, Harvard was great--such as its three straight road wins over Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth. The 3-2 victory over the Big Red was the Crimson's first since 1990.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Record: 12-17

Ivy League: 3-4

Coach: Jennifer Bates

Captains: Jenifer Jose '96, Mika Sampson '96

Key Returnees: Elissa Hart '98, Sarah Logan '98, Lolita Lopez '98

New Face: Melissa Forcum '99

Key Losses: Zaire Dinzey '95, Rachel Heit '95.

At other times, the team looked awful. In late October, Harvard lost consecutive matches to Brown and Yale after winning the first game. Good teams don't do that.

So it's pretty hard to predict how good the Crimson's fortunes will be in '95. Harvard graduated three key players in June--outside hitter Zaire Dinzey, outside hitter Rachel Heit and defensive specialist Judy Iriye.