On Tuesday night, the Harvard women's volleyball team arrived with its pistols blazing for an exciting intrastate showdown against UMass-Amherst.

However, at the end of a long, hard night, the Crimson team walked out of Curry Hicks Cage with its head hung low and its pistols tucked away.

Playing its sixth match in six days, an emotionally- and physically-exhausted Crimson contingent (5-7, 0-0 Ivy) suffered a difficult loss to the Minutewomen, falling in three straight games, 15-5, 15-7, 15-9.

"Our team is pretty disappointed by the loss," said junior middle hitter Katherine Hart. "UMass is definitely a very strong, tough team, but we really could have played with them and played them point-for-point. We just made too many mental and physical mistakes during the match."

Junior outside hitter Angela Lutich led the way for the Crimson by chalking up 13 kills and 11 digs on the night. Hart added nine digs, and senior outside hitter Linda Jellison tacked on seven kills.

Leading the victorious Minutewomen (6-6) was junior Rebecca Hasson, who recorded an impressive double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs. Senior Jill Meyers destroyed the Crimson defense with 17 kills, and fellow senior Kari Hogancamp added nine kills and 19 digs to bolster the UMass attack.

"In the end, I'm really happy with how we played as a team, but we just couldn't find our rhythm [Tuesday] night," said junior setter Julie Yick. "UMass is a tough competitor, and their team is pretty similar to UConn, who beat us [in three games] over the weekend."

Harvard's loss follows a disappointing weekend. Harvard accumulated a 1-4 record at the UConn Invitational, salvaging it with an inspired 3-2 victory over UNH while losing four heart-breaking 3-0 matches against some of the nation's most competitive programs.

On Tuesday night, the Crimson started out the match against UMass with dynamism and excitement, but that well of energy soon ran dry. Early in the first game, the score was tied 2-2, but inconsistent Crimson passing and miscommunication between Harvard players proved deadly.