In an attempt to start a new streak in the positive direction, Harvard took to the court against the St. John's Red Storm (9-7, 0-0 Big East) later Saturday afternoon.

In the first game, the Crimson forced ties at two, three, five, seven and nine points before the Red Storm ran off six points to close out the game.

The second game was more of the same, with Harvard pulling even at nine points and managing two more before St. John's closed out the match.

Harvard began feeling more confident about its play as the match progressed, a fact that became evident in the third game.

After the Red Storm jumped to a 6-2 lead, the Crimson earned five straight points, including two Forcum kills and a Lutich ace.

St. John's would not lead again in the game as Harvard won 15-10.

In the fourth game, the Crimson jumped out to a 5-0 lead, a rally that included an ace by senior Kristen Priscella and a monster kill by Denniston.

The Crimson led 7-3 and 10-5 before going up 14-9. The Red Storm won two more points before Harvard won and evened the match score at two.

The deciding fifth game was played using rally scoring, a system that awards a point on every play, regardless of which team serves the ball.

Harvard quickly fell behind as St. John's began to gel. The only tie in the game was at 3-3 and the Red Storm jumped to leads of 10-4 and 14-6.

The Crimson refused to go quietly, however and fought for three more points including a clutch kill by Denniston.

"Its fun to step up and play at this level," Denniston said.

St. John's called a timeout, and on the next point, a Harvard player committed a net violation, giving St. John's the victory.

"This was the third match where we've had to go into the fifth game," Nash said. "We were a bit tentative. We were a little more passive than they were."

Denniston felt the match was exciting, but not as exciting as a win would have been.

"It was a positive feeling because we came back, but at the same time, it wasn't," she said.

Lutich and Forcum both tallied 22 kills and Lutich added 21 digs. Nash assisted on 62 points.

Harvard takes to the court at home again Wednesday against New Hampshire, hoping to stop the current losing streak at on.