Even though the Harvard women's volleyball team may be tied for first place in the Ivy League, the Providence Friars left the red-hot Crimson ice-cold last night in Providence, R.I.

After grabbing a share of the Ivy League lead last weekend, the Crimson (12-10, 4-1 Ivy) dropped three consecutive games to the Friars, 15-12, 15-8, 15-3. In the middle of a week overflowing with midterms and papers, the Crimson was unable to concentrate on a non-league match.

By beating Harvard last night, the Friars (12-9) extended its six-match win streak and recorded its 10th win in 12 matches.

"I don't want to take anything away from Providence because they played really well," said junior outside hitter Angela Lutich. "But it's always difficult to play during the middle of the week because we have so much on our minds."

Lutich led the Crimson with 12 kills, and junior middle hitter Katherine Hart tacked on nine digs and three blocks.

For the Friars, sophomore Annie Cella chalked up 22 kills, and sophomore Sarah Katinger added 17 kills to the Providence attack.

"We just didn't show up mentally for the match," Hart said. "It's been a tough week academically for a lot of us, and we just had a hard team focusing on the game."

The Crimson started with the match with a burst of energy that soon faded. Providence surged to a 6-1 lead early in the first game, but Harvard was able to exchange side-outs with the Friars and finally battled back to 11-9, again siding out through several rotations.