The women's volleyball season came to an abrupt halt on Saturday when the team was defeated early in the Ivy Tournament and finished in fourth place.

"We were all extremely disappointed," said co-captain Elissa Hart. "The Whole weekend we didn't play up to our potential. There was no concrete reason for us to lose."

Harvard (25-9, 7-0 Ivy) entered the tournament as the undefeated top seed and the team favored to win the Ivy title. The Crimson, however, couldn't bring home the gold, losing first to Yale on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday in a double-elimination match.

In the first round, Harvard was paired up with fifth seed Columbia.

"We expected to win decisively," Hart said.

The Crimson had defeated the Lions in shutout matches both times this season. Harvard, however, struggled to win in four games: 15-11, 15-4, 11-15, 15-10.

"Columbia took us by surprise. They had a big block and good defense. It shook us up a bit," Hart said.

In the third game, the Lions took a 9-0 lead with unstoppable serving rally and went on to win that game. Harvard came back strongly in the fourth to capture the victory.

"We were confident we could get the job done," said Hart.

Harvard's next opponent was second-seeded Yale.

The Crimson had beaten Yale decisively two weeks ago, 3-1. The Bulldogs, however, showed a different game playing on their home court.

"Yale came out tough in the first game and we didn't react quickly," Hart said.

"We came out really flat and let them play while we let things get to us," said senior co-captain Lolita Lopez.

Yale played solidly in front of a home crowd of over 200 fans. The Crimson could not endure the pressure and was defeated in three straight games, 9-15, 8-15, 5-15.

"We were all disappointed with the loss," Hart said. "It was a crucial game for us."

Harvard, however, was not ready to throw in the towel yet. On Saturday, the Crimson faced off against Columbia again. The Lions had upset Brown the night before as the underdog.