In conference, out of conference; conference, out of conference.... Anyone who has ever hidden on a see-saw knows what the Harvard women's volleyball team is going through right now.

In the Ivy League, the Crimson has been near perfect, sitting atop the league standings with only one loss.

Outside the Ancient Eight, however, the spikers have been a different squad, losing a succession of games to inferior teams.

Since a gut-wrenching five-set loss to Boston College three weeks ago--one in which the Crimson was up two sets to none before succumbing--the team has been unable to close out leads against weaker opposition.

Wednesday's 3-2 loss to North-eastern, after relinquishing a 2-1 lead, was the latest in a long line of similar heartbreakers.

"In pretty much every game we'd be up by a significant number of points and then there would be a lull and they'd catch-up." said co-captain Heather Rypkema. "It's not like we played poorly throughout the match, it's just that we couldn't maintain a high level of play due to our lack of mental focus."

And whenever players start speaking of "lulls" and "mental focus," things can't be good.

There are two ways of looking at the recent spate of out-of-conference collapses.

The pessimist would conclude that the Crimson is choking just as the season enters its critical phase. According to this view, the loss to B.C. left a mental scar. Now, the Crimson is so anxious with a lead that it has become nearly impossible for the team to close out a game.

The optimist, by contrast, says that the Crimson simply does not care that much about inter-conference play. It is the Ivy League that really matters, and in the Ancient Eight the Crimson is on top.

The truth, of course, is somewhere in between.

"We're frustrated with our non league play but we are focused for our League games," sophomore setter Kate Nash said.

Either way, the Crimson must leave the past behind them. The squad faces two difficult contests this week against Yale and Brown. If Harvard can win them both, it will win the Ivy League championship and all this talk of choking will be a distant memory.

Perhaps it is time for the see-saw to go up. Harvard  2 N'eastern  3