The women's volleyball team started on a new foot this season, taking off and not looking back.
The team, which won three straight games this past weekend in New York, improved its record to 10-3.
The Big Green's crowning glory for the weekend was its defeat of Bucknell. Dartmouth has not had the opportunity to beat Bucknell in the past two seasons, losing 0-3 both last year and in the season opener this year.
This weekend's match, however, was a different story. Dartmouth sent Bucknell home facing a 3-2 loss.
Bucknell started off the match with a 1-0 lead over Dartmouth, taking the first game 15-12. Having learned from last week's game against the University of Vermont when it dropped the first game and still managed to win 3-1, Dartmouth came back strong in the second game and allowed Bucknell only five points.
The 15-5 win in the second game boosted Dartmouth's confidence, which the team rode on to defeat Bucknell in the third game, 15-10. This win put Dartmouth up two games to one in the match.
Bucknell was not to be defeated easily, however. The team returned in the fourth game with new energy and took the game 15-11.
With the score tied and one game left to be played, Dartmouth forged ahead, forgetting about the past game. Stabilized by consistent serving from Janene Ashford '97, the Big Green came back from a 11-14 deficit to pull off the win, 16-14.
"We showed a lot of guts out there," Captain Carmen Schmitt '97 said. "We showed we could compete really well."
"We played really well against Bucknell," outside hitter Stasia Bochnowski '98 said. "Everything just came together, the team chemistry, everything. Previously we would have sparks of what we could do. This game it was really constant.
Outside hitter Alison McKinley '99 lent her skills to help the team come out with the win, tallying an individual high of 28 kills and 26 digs. Setter Felicity Kolp '99 saw an individual high of six service aces.
Strong serving was definitely a key factor in Dartmouth's win over Bucknell.
"We served very well," Schmitt said. "We only missed three serves the whole match."
In the first two matches of the weekend, Dartmouth competed against Long Island University and St. Francis.
On Friday night the Big Green shut down Long Island University in three games, 15-7, 15-4, 15-8.
McKinley led the team in kills, charting 15, while middle blocker Danra Kazenski '99 followed close behind with 12. Schmitt posted three service aces during the game, while McKinley, Schmitt and outside hitter Emily Hallenbeck '99 led in digs with 11, eight and eight, respectively.
The Big Green easily defeated St. Francis in three games, 15-1, 15-1, 15-6, on Saturday. Outside hitter Erin Dawkins '97 tallied six kills and three service aces to help propel her team to a victory.
"We pretty much crushed the two teams," middle blocker Kai Enos '96 said. "It was nice because we got to play all of our players."
"Long Island University and St. Francis were good confidence builders for us," Schmitt said. "We went in really strong. It was a good experience for us."
The team has several ideas in mind to keep it on top of its future games. "We want to keep our serve consistent and tough," Schmitt said. "We also need to keep our serve-receive strong. That will help get our offense running. Our defense has improved immensely. As long as we keep our movement back, we should do pretty well."
Dartmouth begins Ivy League play this coming Friday against Princeton in New Jersey.
