This season is really just a matter of picking up where they left off.

Players on the Harvard women's volleyball team know they can take control in 1996: win the Ivy League regular season, win the Ivy Tournament, end Princeton's string of two consecutive titles.

For it was the 1995 Ivy Tournament that showed how high the Crimson can go. A 4-3 team (21-10 overall) during the regular season league games, Harvard exploded in the league tourney, winning four straight matches by a combined score of 12-1 until the finals.

One of those victories was against Princeton, a team Harvard had only beaten once before in its history. The Crimson hopes it can do it again, but coach Jennifer Bates isn't making any promises.

"This is a whole different team," Bates said. "There's new captains, new leaders and a whole new chemistry. [But] this team this year will be able to compete with the top teams in the Ivies."

Harvard lost two of its best big hitters, Jennifer Jose '96 and Sarah Logan, a sophomore last year who's taking the year off. This will mean that junior Elissa Hart (292 kills) will be the main middle hitter, with the other one up for grabs.

The rest of the lineup is more set. Setter Kate Nash, a Second Team All-Ivy selection, is back for her sophomore year, and she will still have sophomore Melissa Forcum (260 kills) and junior co-captain Lolita Lopez to dish to.

That only leaves the back-side hitter spot open, which could be filled by anyone from co-captain Heather Rypkema, the team's lone senior, to sophomores Anne Schafer, Catherine Betti, Marci Ellis or a freshman.

And don't be surprised if some first-years get a great deal of playing time. Since taking over the team in the fall of 1993 as the Crimson's first full-time coach, Bates has had two outstanding recruiting classes and has been unashamed to show off her players quickly. Nash, Hart, Logan, Lopez and Forcum have all started since their respective Orientation Weeks.

And so far, it's worked. After going 8-18 in 1992, Harvard upped its record to 9-16 in '93 and 12-17 in '94 before last season's breakout year, in which the Crimson set a team record for wins and earned its second-highest winning percentage.

Now those recruits are beginning to pile up, giving Harvard one of the deepest benches that it has ever had. Also, they are getting older, so if the Crimson wants to win the Ivies, it had better get around to doing it.

Harvard has put together a difficult non-conference schedule, taking on the likes of Utah State and nationally-ranked Rhode Island in the New England Invitational, which starts the weekend of September 13. The Ivy League schedule kicks into gear in October 4 with a game against Dartmouth.

OUTLOOK * W. VOLLEYBALL

RECORD: 21-10

IVY LEAGUE: 4-3 (fourth)

COACH: Jennifer Bates

CAPTAINS: Heather Rypkema '97, Lolita Lopez '98

KEY RETURNEES: Elissa Hart '98, Kate Nash '99, Melissa Forcum '99

KEY LOSSES: Jennifer Jose '96, Sarah Logan '98-'99