In the first game, the Quakers took advantage of the injury-depleted Crimson's initial jitters and miscues. Crucial kills by Harvard junior Kristin Schaeffer reduced the Penn lead to 14-12, but a kill by the Quakers' Sue Sabatino quickly erased the Crimson threat. The Crimson bounced back to win the second gamebehind the leadership of Nash and Forcum. TheTigers threatened to take over the lead throughoutthe game, but key kills by Forcum and Denniston,who had five kills apiece during the game, sealedthe game for the Crimson. The Quakers won the third game by capitalizingon the Crimson's mistakes and exhaustion. Afterjumping ahead to grab a 5-0 lead, Penn dominatedthe rest of the game and won 15-6. The fourth game was the turning point of thematch for the Crimson. Harvard began the game byrunning off 10 unanswered points under powerfulkills by Forcum--who had eight kills in the fifthgame alone--Nash and Schaeffer. Working togetheras a team to block the Quakers' efforts, they fedoff of the crowd's energy to dominate the game andto win it 15-9. The Crimson won the fifth game through preciseexecution and teamwork. After Penn junior KristinStine served the ball out-of-bounds with Harvardleading 9-4, the Crimson played beautifully forthe rest of the game, with Forcum and senioroutside hitter Anne Schafer shutting down the Pennattack. The Crimson won the game 15-7 after Penn'sSabatino returned the ball out-of-bounds. The game erased many of the ghosts that hadhaunted Harvard in the past. Not only did theCrimson win a five-game match for the first timethis season, but they also won a match afterlosing the first game, bucking a trend that hasplagued them throughout the season. "When we lost the first game, we fought as hardas we could, and the seniors went out and gave iteverything they had," said Forcum, who garneredIvy Player of the Week honors last weekend. "It was a terrific win for us," Schafer said."It was all about starting off early and gettingpoints at the start instead of trying to catch up.We really pushed the whole way, and we feel greatabout that." Harvard next hosts Dartmouth on Saturday at theMAC.
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