The men's volleyball team traveled to MIT this past weekend to take part in the New England Club Volleyball Open. The team played well, but fell in the semi-finals to the University of New Hampshire.
"It was a tough loss, but I think we took consolation in the fact that people at the tournament realized we were of their caliber," setter Rick Fasani '96 said.
In the preliminaries the Big Green was undefeated. They handily defeated Holy Cross 3-0, Tufts 2-0 and Williams 3-0. After these three wins Dartmouth moved to the quarter-finals to take on Boston University.
Dartmouth had another strong game against BU, coming out with a 2-0 victory by scores of 15-13 and 15-9. This landed Dartmouth in the semi-finals against league rival UNH.
Dartmouth started off strong against UNH, going up 10-4. However, UNH made a strong run and were able to pull out a win 15-13.
Down, but not out, Dartmouth attempted to come back in the second game, but UNH prevailed 15-9, handing the Big Green their first loss of the season.
" It was a great game that seesawed back and forth -- each team coming up with some big streaks," Fasani said.
Offensively the Big Green looked to outside hitters Jeremy Longinotti '96 and Matt Streng '98, as well as freshman opposite hitter Mark Shuster who "kept us in the match by putting the majority of balls to the floor," Fasani said.
On defense Colin Gorman '97 and graduate student Jeff Mar staved of the UNH hitters with solid blocks and key digs.
Dartmouth will get a second chance at UNH on April 5 at Durham. UNH also looks to figure into the Big Green's title plans at the New England Club Volleyball League tourney in April.
The Big Green will be seeing a familiar face when it takes to the floor tomorrow night at Leede Arena, as Tufts, who the Green beat last weekend at M.I.T., comes to Hanover for a rematch. The Big Green, still undefeated (2-0) in league play, will looks to improve their record to 10-1.
Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
