The Dartmouth women's volleyball team had high hopes going into this weekend's matches against Brown and Yale. Hopes of a 6-1 Ivy record. Hopes of finishing first in the Ivy League. Hopes of extending its winning streak to an unprecedented 11 matches.
The hopes were dashed however when the Big Green (16-8, 4-3 Ivy) fell flat in its Friday night opener at Brown. The Saturday match at Yale was more closely fought, but Dartmouth still fell short in the five game marathon.
The losses hurt the team, but the players know that there are still matches left to be played, and most importantly, the all-important Ivy League Tournament is only two weeks away.
"It's a whole new story at the league tournament, though, and I think we have just as much chance to win as we always did," Janna Merryfield '00 said.
The three-game loss to Brown, 15-12 15-6 15-9, was reminiscent of Dartmouth's loss to Harvard. Brown was on top of its game, while Dartmouth was searching for anything resembling momentum.
"In my time here, that's the best I've ever seen them play," third year Dartmouth Coach Ann Marie Larese said.
Saturday's trip to Yale was both frustrating and motivating for the team. The five game loss, 13-15 15-3 5-15 15-13 15-8, was filled with ups and downs, but ultimately, it was the downs caused by inept officiating that hurt the most.
The team can take some pride from their effort against Yale. Never before had they even taken the Elis to more than three games, and overall, coach Larese said she was proud of the effort put forth.
"We were able to pick it up after Friday night's loss ... It was a good way to go into the tournament," Larese said. "Felicity [Kolp '99] played really consistently, and Maria [Stutsman y Marquez '98] had her best service and defensive match in the time she's been here."
Merryfield said, "The one thing that I think we can be proud of is that we really played with our hearts. We took the risk to give it all we had, and the calls just didn't go our way."
The team travels to face Northeastern on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Dartmouth beat the Huskies earlier this season in three games.
