Harvard's win against the Dartmouth set the Crimson up for another showdown against Princeton, whom it had beat in the regular season in three easy games. Because the Crimson was now playing in the consolation bracket because of the earlier loss in the tournament to the Tigers, Harvard would have had to win its fifth-round match against the Tigers and then another best-of-three-game tie-breaking match in order to decide the champion.

In the fifth round, Princeton won the first game handily, 15-9, but Harvard answered with a 15-13 victory in the second game. The Crimson took a 2-1 game lead by winning the third game 15-7, but Princeton crushed Harvard's championship hopes by winning the last two games, 15-10 and 15-10.

"We gave it our all in the last match, and we left it all out on the court," Schaeffer said. "Princeton is a really good team, and we were disappointed because we lost, but in the end, we're proud of the effort that we put into it."

The Crimson's bittersweet loss to the Tigers in the final round marked the last match for four talented seniors who have left their mark on Harvard volleyball.

Schaeffer, Jellison and defensive specialists Kristin Priscella and Laurel Rayburn played their last matches in a Harvard uniform this weekend and were proud of the Crimson's second-place finish this weekend.

"It's sad that my career is over, but I'm happy with the way that we finished," Jellison said. "This is definitely the best Harvard volleyball team that I've played on."