Princeton finally prevails against cinderella Crimson

Going into this weekend's Ivy League tournament at the Palestra, Penn coach Margaret Feeney emphasized the importance of playing with heart in the tournament. She said the team that comes out on top in the three-day tournament is often not necessarily the most talented team, but the one that plays the hardest. Feeney hoped her fourth-seeded Quakers would fit that description and surprise some teams on their way to the title. There was a team that did follow Feeney's pattern, but unfortunately for Penn, it was Harvard, which played the role of Cinderella in the tournament. Coach Jennifer Bates was the one praising her team's heart after it was all over. After falling to the Quakers in the first round, the fifth-seeded Crimson proved to be unstoppable in the losers' bracket of the tourney. First Harvard defeated Brown and third-seeded Yale. The Crimson then crushed Cornell 3-0 to knock the top-seeded Big Red out of the tourney. Next up was Penn for the second time, and Harvard likewise disposed of the Quakers. All that remained was defending champion Princeton. The Tigers had gone undefeated in the double-elimination tourney, so Harvard faced the unenviable task of beating the Tigers twice in a row. The Crimson continued its amazing run with a 3-1 win over the shocked Tigers. However, midnight arrived too soon for the Crimson, as the Tigers repeated last year's success with a 2-0 victory in the best-of-three finale. "I was very scared after the first match," said Princeton captain Kristen Spataro, who was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row. "We came in way too confident, and they totally blew us away." Princeton coach Glenn Nelson attributed Harvard's early success to what his team was doing wrong, not the Crimson's solid play. "We had 29 errors in the first four games," Nelson said. "You can't hand even the school for the blind seven points a game and hope to win." The two teams had different goals going into the match, with Princeton unwilling to accept anything less than a championship. Harvard, meanwhile, seemed pleased even in defeat after its incredible tournament ride. "I shouldn't say I'm surprised, but I'm thrilled," Harvard coach Bates said. "The tournament is definitely a success for us. Harvard volleyball has come a long way." In a year in which parity reigned in the Ivy League, the tournament followed the expected pattern, which meant upsets and surprises throughout. In the first round, the four top seeds advanced to the winners' bracket, but the next round produced what appeared to be the biggest upset of the tournament. Penn trailed top-seeded Cornell 2-0 before rallying to tie the match at 2. The Quakers fell behind 11-4 in the final game but then rallied for a 15-13 win. It looked as if Feeney's team would be the surprise of the tournament. But the Quakers were upstaged by Harvard, which eventually knocked out Penn in the semifinals. "I'm surprised that we lost our two matches after defeating Cornell," Penn captain Carol Cit Kovic said. "I really thought that we would be able to get revenge on Princeton in the final." The tournament may have been full of upsets and surprises, but in the end the defending champion Tigers were celebrating their second straight title. Princeton benefited from Penn and Harvard's upsets of Cornell, and never had to face the Big Red who handed the Tigers their only Ivy League defeat. It seemed to matter little who Princeton played -- Nelson was more concerned with never losing a game instead of a tournament victory, which, he said, he assumed was inevitable. The challenge now is for the other teams to prevent a three-peat. Harvard, Penn and Yale all have very young teams that could challenge for the title next year. What is certain, though, is that Ivy League volleyball is rapidly improving and teams must better themselves to stay even.