The Dartmouth's women's volleyball team stamped a big green "Return to Sender" on the Wildcats of the University of New Hampshire last night, sending them home in defeat, 15-7, 15-8, 15-5.
"This was the most efficient match of our season," Big Green head coach Ann Marie Larese said. "We served tough and forced them to go to their second shots."
Dartmouth's offense made it apparent early on that they were prepared to mix their shots, while the Wildcat defense looked completely baffled by the shot selection.
Ranked 10th in the region, UNH was out of the match midway through the first game.
With the score at 8-7 in the first, Dartmouth took control. Showing their athleticism, the Big Green offense dominated the net, tipping ball after ball over the UNH blockers when the big kill wasn't available.
"Our offense made them scramble," Larese said. "Sometimes you can't power over the opponent."
Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the second game, with outside hitter Emily Hallenbeck '99 leading the defensive surge. Hallenbeck racked up a team-high 15 digs on the night.
The rest of the game went back and forth before an ace by Danra Kazenski '99, her first on the season, sealed the game.
The third game opened with a quasi-rejuvenated Wildcat squad looking to get back in the match. Over the weekend, Dartmouth encountered third game troubles in several matches, but despite an early UNH lead in the third, Dartmouth came back with a rapid strike,closing the match with a 10-0 run.
"We focused on pushing through the third game," Danra Kazenski '99 said.
Janna Merryfield '00 led the Big Green with 12 kills on the match, driving the ball through and tipping her way over the Wildcat blockers. Latia Curry '98 and Anne Murray '00 both had nine kills in addition to teaming up for two stuff blocks.
Delivering the ball was setter Felicity Kolp '99, who moved the ball all over the court to find her hitters, logging 36 assists and three aces.
""We made the smarter shot, taking them out of their offense," Kolp said.
"We had them totally confused by the end of the match," Larese said.
