It was truly a weekend of firsts for the Dartmouth women's volleyball team. Against Penn and Princeton, two teams that the Big Green had never defeated, Dartmouth came away with two victories, and for the first time in the history of the program, the Big Green now own a share first place in the Ivy League.
The Big Green (14-6, 4-1 Ivy) battled tradition and 15 years of funding in the Quakers (9-8, 2-2 Ivy) and the Tigers (6-8, 2-2 Ivy). The Dartmouth team, which received varsity status and funding little more than two years ago, proved that it is now the team to beat in the league.
"Our dream has come true," Danra Kazenski '99 said. "Each game is like stepping into a fantasy world where it seems like we can't do anything wrong."
Dartmouth's game plan for the weekend was to frustrate its opposition by staying in the points as long as possible.
The Big Green's strategy paid off immediately on just the third point against Penn on Friday night. Down 0-1, Dartmouth evened the score after a long point that featured several huge digs and key blocks. The game continued to be even all the way to 10-10, when an ace by outside hitter Emily Hallenbeck '99 put the Big Green ahead to stay.
The second game began evenly, but at 3-3, Dartmouth went on a 12-4 run to finish the game. Spurring the momentum were a strong back row kill for Hallenbeck, and a great dig by Janna Merryfield '00.
Thanks to sharp serving by Carmen Schmitt '97, the Big Green took a 6-1 lead in game three. After Penn came back to tie the score at 10-10, on the serve of Emily Ramee '00, Dartmouth advanced the lead to 14-10. Again, however, Penn came back and even took the lead 14-15. A kill by Anne Murray '00 generated a sideout, and the rest was all Green.
The three game win 15-11, 15-7, 17-15 was the first in six meetings for Dartmouth.
Kazenski led the Big Green with 12 kills and three blocks. Also contributing to the win were Merryfield, who had 17 digs, and Anne Murray '00, who had nine kills and two blocks.
A euphoric Coach Ann Marie Larese said after the match, "Finally we played the way I think we can play. ... It was a great team effort."
Larese hadn't seen it all quite yet, though. A decisive underdog against the Ivy champion Princeton Tigers, the Big Green more than rose to the challenge on Saturday. The four game win, 15-12, 15-17, 15-5, 15-5, was Dartmouth's first in seven meetings with Princeton.
The match opened up with a 6-0 Dartmouth run. On the streak, Murray came up with two gigantic kills and assisted on a block with Kazenski. A rocking Leede Arena looked like it would be home to a rout, but Princeton came back with a lightning fast strike, to take the lead 8-10.
Alison McKinley '99 brought life back into the Big Green with a huge kill into the heart of the Tiger defense. Another kill from McKinley, this time from the back row, brought the serve back to Dartmouth at 11-11. The rest was all Kazenski. With Hallenbeck serving, Kazenski had two kills in the final three points to finish game one.
Dartmouth opened up game two quickly, getting off to a 11-4 start, but the Big Green suddenly lost their momentum.
"We let it get away," Larese said of Princeton's seven consecutive points, which turned into a 13-4 run to win the game.
The third game opened with a rejuvenated Dartmouth team. With the momentum of the match shifting back to the Green, and life quickly being sucked from Princeton, Felicity Kolp '99 came up with an incredible pancake that visibly frustrated the Tigers. Two aces by Schmitt and another by Maria Stutsman y Marquez '98 to finish the game proved to be the final blow to Princeton's confidence.
The fourth game was Dartmouth's chance to humiliate the Tigers, and they didn't miss out. The Big Green stomped all over them, with Kolp serving out the last eight points of the match, and adding two aces to her match total of three.
"Princeton didn't look mentally tough throughout a lot of the game, and we knew they were getting down at the end of the fourth game," Kolp said.
Larese reinforced the significance of staying positive, "It's not necessarily about skill, it's about attitude. ... If you play hard good things will happen."
Leading the way for Dartmouth was Murray, who tallied 15 kills and four blocks. McKinley also finished with solid numbers, posting 14 kills and 20 digs.
The team thought that its wins over Columbia and Cornell were big last weekend, but these most recent matches have redefined what success for this team is all about.
"I'm not sure the scope of what we've accomplished these past two weekends has hit me yet," Kazenski said. "All I know is that my cheeks hurt from smiling nonstop. ... I've never had more fun beating a team in my life."
Merryfield summarized the weekend's significance, "There aren't many chances in life to do things for the first time."
The Big Green take their ranking at the top of the Ivy on the road with them to play Central Connecticut this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
