Despite leads in the first two games against Columbia, the Dartmouth women's volleyball was unable to pull off a win this past week. The team played three games, losing to both Columbia and Cornell over the weekend and to Harvard on Tuesday night. All three games ended in 3-0 defeats for the Big Green.
Last Friday night the team traveled to Cornell where it lost 15-5, 15-0, 15-5. Cornell came into the game as one of the top teams in the league and currently sits in third place.
Cornell dominated the game, playing with a fast-paced offense and very good blocking, according to Coach Ann Marie Larese.
On Saturday the Big Green played Columbia, who, like Dartmouth, has been struggling this season. Columbia came into the match posting a 2-10 record.
"They were beatable," Larese said. "They made a ton of physical and mental mistakes. We could not keep the momentum long enough to hold on to win."
Dartmouth dominated the game during the opening of both the first and second games. The team was able to take a 6-0 lead in the first game and a 7-2 lead in the second game of the match. But the Big Green could not contend throughout the match and dropped both games, 15-11 and 15-8, respectively.
In the third game, Dartmouth was unable to repeat the success of the beginnings of the first two games and lost 15-3.
Some success did come out of these games, though. For her outstanding playing over the weekend, captain Candice Jimerson '95 earned a spot on the Ivy League Honor Roll.
On Tuesday, the Big Green battled it out with the Crimson at Leede Arena. Harvard won all three games with scores of 15-8, 15-6 and 15-3.
Harvard went into the match with a 2-2 Ivy League record and 5-9 overall. The team came in after two wins against Cornell and Columbia over the weekend.
"At the beginning, the transition was really good, but we missed serves at opportune times and that really hurt the momentum," Larese said.
Throughout the match, the Harvard players were able to use their hits to their advantage, carefully placing several balls. Dartmouth, on the other hand, was not able to put up tough enough defense to control the game.
"We are still having trouble with setting the block," Larese said. "It's something we need to be able to do so we don't miss opportunities."
One difference in the Harvard game was Dartmouth's line-up, with many players switching positions. For example, outside hitter Erin Dawkins '97 played right side.
"It's hard to play a different position when you haven't had a chance to practice it. I was happy with the way people stepped up to play positions they don't usually play," Larese said.
On the other side of the court, middle hitters Elissa Hart and Sarah Logan each had several kills to help rack up the points for Harvard. Hart, a freshmen, was named Ivy League Player of the Week after the games against Cornell and Columbia.
Harvard coach Jennifer Bates was impressed with the Big Green, despite their recent losses. "Dartmouth has improved a lot throughout the season," she said. "They are lucky to have the coaching staff that they do. They won't be a team to take lightly in the future."
