The Dartmouth women's volleyball team tacked on another win to its already extraordinary start to its season with a three game road win over the University of Vermont last night, 15-12, 15-13, 15-6.
The Big Green (12-2) faced the challenge of not playing down to the Catamounts (0-8) slow style of play. Early on, it looked as though UVM may get the best of the Big Green, taking early leads in each game before Dartmouth could rally for the victories.
"We were ready for it to be a rock 'n roll show and it wasn't," Dartmouth head coach Ann Marie Larese said.
"In the end, we just had to slug it out."
Just two weeks ago Dartmouth defeated UVM in three games with sophomore right sideoutside hitter Anne Murray '00 leading the charge. Murray again was the center of the offense, this time providing a team-high and game-high 15 kills.
Defensive specialist Stasia Bochnowski '98 hit five of Dartmouth's seven aces, but several missed serves by the Big Green made Vermont's sideout game look much better than its famed cheddar.
"It was extremely slow and pretty ugly," Larese added. "There were a lot of offspeed shots played in the contest.."
Dartmouth used the match to prepare for this weekend's Fall Classic in Leede Arena, in which the Big Green will go up against St. Francis, Bucknell, and Long Island.
"It was definitely a learning experience to play at that pace," Larese said. "It's a snapshot of this weekend's coming matches."
Unlike their Ivy League competition which plays a more power game, many of these non-league matches feature slower transitions and more finesse shot-making.
The Big Green weren't able to adjust to the Catamounts slow style of play until the final game. Down 0-6, Dartmouth strung together 15 consecutive points to close out the game and the match fo their 12th victory on the season.
"We weren't really used to playing at that pace," Dartmouth head coach Ann Marie Larese said. "I felt good that we were actually able to figure out a way to win in that style of play."
St. Francis visits Leede Arena this Saturday night at 7 p.m., while Bucknell and Long Island come in on Sunday to go up against the Big Green at noon and 4 p.m., respectively.
