The Harvard women's volleyball team regained its winning form last night with a convincing 3-0 victory over intrastate rival Holy Cross.

The Crimson (6-7) controlled the game from the outset, taking all three games from the Crusaders (3-13) by the count of 15-6, 15-5, 15-6.

"Basically we had fun," sophomore Erin Denniston said. "We haven't been having fun the past couple of games."

Denniston led the Crimson attack with 12 kills, while co-captain Kristen Schaeffer and sophomore Kira Whelan added nine and seven, respectively.

Whelan's play was a major factor in the Crimson's win over the Crusaders. In her biggest game of the season since moving up from the JV team, where she played last season, Whelan made an immediate impact with 10 digs, seven kills, and three assists on the night.

"It was awesome," Whelan said. "Everyone has been so supportive of me. It's made the transition to the team so much easier."

However, Whelan wasn't the only newcomer to the team to make an impact last night. Continuing in the footsteps of last year's rookies, this year's freshmen recruiting class continued to show its strong play.

"I think their great players," Schaeffer said, commenting on the freshmen. "Vanessa [Scott], Mindy [Jellin], and Liz [Cebron] just came in really strong and worked really hard throughout the pre-season, and they've stayed really enthusiastic since then."