The bonfire burned itself out almost two weeks ago, but the fire beneath the Dartmouth women's volleyball team continues to burn. The team heads into its final weekend of Ivy League play, looking to gain the top spot in the seedings for the Ivy League tournament.
Riding an incredible nine match win streak, the Big Green (16-6, 4-1 Ivy) travel to take on Brown tonight and to Yale tomorrow night. At the close of Saturday night's action, the seedings will have been determined for the Tournament which will be played Nov. 15-17 at Cornell.
Coach Ann Marie Larese sees her team as peaking at just the right time. "Tuesday and Wednesday were the best days of practice we've had all season," she said.
But Brown (9-12, 3-2 Ivy) and Yale (15-7, 3-2 Ivy) won't be pushovers. The Bears and the Elis are among the five teams in the league who are still in the running to gain the top seed.
"The league is so wide open," Larese said. "This weekend will determine the standings."
Dartmouth shares the top spot in the standings with Harvard. Harvard is also making the Brown/Yale swing this weekend, but will face Yale tonight and Brown tomorrow.
Much like Dartmouth, Brown features several young players in crucial positions. Leading the way is freshman outside hitter Tomo Nakanishi, who is second in the league in digs per game, and is seventh in kills.
Propelling the Elis' five match winning streak is three time Ivy Player of the Week Rosie Wustrack '99. Wustrack leads the league in hitting percentage, and last week posted big numbers with a career best .857 hitting percentage in a match against Hartford.
For every weapon that Brown and Yale have on their side, Dartmouth has the talent to counter. One of the most potent attacks of late for the Big Green has been services aces. Maria Stutsman y Marquez '98 leads the league in aces per game, and in three of the following four spots for service aces are Carmen Schmitt '97, Alison McKinley '99 and Felicity Kolp '99.
As a team, Dartmouth ranks fourth in the nation in digs. Spurring this top ranking is McKinley, who leads the league in digs and kills per game.
On the Ivy League Honor Roll this week is Paige Perry '00. Perry had 10 kills and 13 digs in last week's 3-0 win over Central Connecticut, and her average of 3.56 digs per game is good enough for fourth in the league.
In the Ivy League, the team finishing with the best record gets the top ranking going into the tournament, but no regular season championship is given. It all comes down to the dual elimination Ivy Tournament which gives every team a chance at the league title.
In the immediate future, however, are two tough matches that are destined to be slug-fests. A common viewpoint on the team is that success this weekend will be a good indicator of the team's success in the tournament.
"If we are successful, then we will know, without a doubt, that we can take the tournament," Stutsman y Marquez said.