As the Harvard women's softball team prepares for its Ivy League opener next week against Yale, it has reason to celebrate.

After a rocky season last year, the Crimson opened this season with a disappointing 0-3 start.

Though Harvard managed to stabilize itself after those three losses, it stood at only 5-8 entering spring break and trailed the league-leading Elis by five-and-a-half games. Over break, the Crimson reversed this skid by posting an impressive 9-1 record to improve its overall record to 14-9, just one-half of a game behind Yale.

"I think that we are doing very well this season. We have been playing very good teams, and our record reflects that," said freshman Deborah Abeles.

Partly driving this sudden turn-around has been the solid pitching of junior Tasha Cupp. During the team's spring break trip to the Pioneer Classic, Cupp earned all-tournament team status by going 4-1 with one save to up her overall record to 9-4 on the season. In producing the victories, Cupp managed to no-hit Santa Clara in the semifinals and one-hit Wisconsin-Stout in the finals as the Crimson cruised to a 6-1 record and a tournament victory.

However, Harvard is not the only team making a run in the Ivy League. Both Princeton and Pennsylvania also faltered at the beginning of the season before posting 7-3 runs to improve their overall records to 12-11 and 10-9, respectively.

All told, six of the seven teams in the Ivy League currently post winning records, reflecting the quality of softball in the League.

But of these six teams, perennial arch-rival Princeton appears to pose the strongest threat to Harvard earning its first ever Ivy League softball crown.

"Princeton is definitely the one to beat this year," Abeles said.

Princeton may be even more difficult to beat after the sudden snow-storm on Tuesday dumped twenty inches of snow. That storm has caused Harvard's doubleheaders against Rhode Island, Hartford and most likely Maine to be cancelled this week. Such a delay poses a dual threat to the Crimson.

First, the team could lose the momentum it picked up from the spring break road trip. Second, it could allow other Ivy League teams who have faltered, such as Yale, enough time to regroup themselves and focus on the Ivy League title hunt.

"This storm makes it more difficult becuase more games equals better preparation. However, if we stay in tune, we should be fine," Abeles said.

If they stay in tune, the Crimson may do more than fine--they may have an Ivy League title to celebrate.