The women's volleyball team finished off its 1995 home schedule with a bang last Saturday, coming back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Brown University 3-2. The win improved the Big Green's record to 14-9 overall, 2-5 in the Ivy League.
"I think this win will put us in sixth place [for the Ivy Championship]," Coach Ann Marie Larese said. "I'm extremely thrilled because we've moved up two positions in a year."
Games one and two showed Dartmouth lacking in many of the skills it has proven it possesses this season. The team reacted slowly to the ball, letting Brown step up and take wins in each of these games.
In the first game, Dartmouth did gain the momentum for a short time, bringing the score from 0-7 to 6-8 for Brown. These six points were the only points Dartmouth saw in this game as the Bears took the 15-6 decision.
Dartmouth stayed with Brown for the first nine points on each side. Until the score became tied at 9-9, Dartmouth did not allow Brown to get more than two points ahead. Dartmouth faltered, however, and gave up six of the last seven points to Brown allowing the Bears to take the 15-10 win.
"It was a battle," Larese said. "They got the better of our blocking in the beginning."
As the third game began, it appeared it might be a reflection of the two previous games. Dartmouth picked up the pace, though, and gained a 13-6 lead. Lone senior Kai Enos came up with several key plays to propel her team to this advantage.
Once Dartmouth hit 14 points, it stalled, unable to complete the game. Brown crept closer and closer, closing the gap to one point but were finally shut down by the combined effort of freshmen Alison McKinley's serving and Emily Hallenbeck's hitting. The 15-13 win moved Dartmouth back into the match.
"The third game was when we really got warmed up," Captain Carmen Schmitt '97 said.
Dartmouth did not wait in the fourth game to get started and took a quick 5-1 lead. Everything about Dartmouth's play improved in this game, including blocking and hitting.
Brown stalled Dartmouth's scoring and managed to tie the game at 5-5. The teams chased each other up the scoreboard after this, demonstrating good digging on each side of the net. Brown's inability to serve strong in the clutch proved fatal for the team as they dropped the fourth game to Dartmouth 15-11.
In the fifth rally scoring game, Dartmouth continued from where it left off in the fourth and never looked back. No one person on Dartmouth's side contributed all of the points, but rather everyone gave something to help the Big Green take the 15-9 win.
Schmitt and setter Felicity Kolp '99 each gave a service ace, while Danra Kazenski '99, Janene Ashford '97, Enos and Hallenbeck put their hitting power to use.
"[The win] gave us some confidence." Schmitt said. "We were able to push through which is something we've been having trouble with. It was nice because everyone contributed. Latia [Curry '98] had some great blocks and hits. Everybody did a good job."
Larese agreed. "Every person played and every person did something good."
Larese especially noted Ashford's play and Kolp's setting.
"Felicity [Kolp] was under control the entire match," Larese said. "That's what you want from a freshman setter. It's nice because we can go to the right or we can go to the left or the middle or the backline attack."
Dartmouth also took on Yale this past Friday and were defeated 0-3.
"We stopped and started a lot," Larese said. "We got stalled. Yale didn't play that great. Their defense was slow. We just couldn't capitalize on their mistakes. They have the experience, the composure."
The first two games were slow, like the Brown first two games. In the third game, however, Dartmouth took Yale to a 15-17 decision.
"It showed where we should have been starting," Schmitt said. "We wanted to bring [the momentum] over to [the Brown game]."
Schmitt cited trouble with serve-receive in the first five points of each game as well as several dropped balls as factors in the loss.
Enos and Hallenbeck led the team with nine kills, followed closely by McKinley with eight and Erin Clarke '99 with six. McKinley led in digs, tallying 17, while Kazenski and Kolp each had three blocks.
Dartmouth will take a break until Nov. 4 when it will travel to Cambridge for the Harvard Tournament.
