At one critical point in the first game, Providence led by the slim margin of 13-12, but it finally closed out the game, 15-13.

"We did a good job of siding out with them and keeping up with them, but it's hard to keep playing catch up when you fall behind early in the game," Hart said.

Falling behind early in the second and third games, Harvard was unable to stage dramatic comebacks, losing both, 15-8 and 15-3.

"Even towards the end, when we were really behind in the game, we were trying to turn things around," Hart said.

However, the Crimson's dying efforts were not enough to stifle the explosive Friars, whose multifaceted offense consistently found holes in Harvard's defense. The Friars' senior setter Colleen Lee assisted on 48 points on the night.

"Providence was definitely a good team, but we should have been able to win the match," Hart said. "We should have taken advantage of the situation, but we just weren't focused. We were basically playing catch up for the entire match."

Now Harvard must recuperate from its difficult loss last night in time for its upcoming Ivy matches to maintain its place atop the Ivy League standings. Last weekend the Crimson surged into a tie for first-place with Princeton and Brown.