Leede Arena will play host to the Ivy League women's volleyball tournament this weekend for the first time in the 20 years of Ivy play. The tournament will last from Friday, Nov. 12 through Sunday, Nov. 14.
The double-elimination tournament will decide the Ivy League champion, and that team will go on to represent the Ancient Eight in the NCAA tournament.
Seeded first is traditional powerhouse Princeton, with a 6-1 record. The second-seeded Brown Bears also come into the tournament at 6-1, losing only at the hands of the Tigers.
The Tigers and Bears have traded off Ivy championships in the past four years, with Princeton wearing the crown in 1998.
This season, Princeton's only loss was to the Harvard Crimson, seeded third in the tournament with a 5-2 record.
Dartmouth, in its first hosting role, is seeded fourth in the tournament. The Big Green's Ivy record is 3-4, with wins against Yale, Penn and Columbia. The Bulldogs and the Quakers are seeded fifth and sixth respectively, both with 3-4 records. Columbia and Cornell trail in the rankings, seeded seventh and eighth with 1-6 records in the league.
Though this is Dartmouth's first losing season in four years, but many things can happen at the Ivy League tournament. In 1997, Dartmouth lost in the first round but battled through the losers' bracket to the final game, where it lost to Princeton 3-2.
Janna Merryfield '00, this year a co-captain, was named to the all-tournament team that year as a sophomore.
Upsets are common in the tournament, as they have been during this regular season.
Evidence of this can be seen in Harvard's victory over Princeton, Penn's defeat of the Crimson, and Cornell's marathon win against Dartmouth, in which Merryfield set the Big Green record for digs in a match with 33.
Dartmouth hopes to make the most of their tournament opportunity under the watchful eye of Head Coach Ann Marie Larese, who is in her sixth season.
Coming into the tournament with an undefeated streak at the Harvard Invitational, the team is ready to play.
Home court advantage will play a large role for the team's success as well. With a large home crowd to cheer them on, the Big Green's enthusiasm will be at its highest.
"To have [the tournament] on our home court is a thrill," Merryfield said. "I expect us to play the best volleyball we've played all year."
Merryfield, Anne Murray '00 -- a co-captain and two-time All-Ivy selection-- and Josie Lauer '00 are especially happy to be hosting the tournament, as they have the opportunity to end their Dartmouth volleyball careers -- or become Ivy champions -- here in Hanover.
"We are very excited to be hosting the tournament our senior year," Murray said. "We hope we can get the stands filled with Darmouth fans this weekend."
As shown by the unpredictable Ivy League volleyball season, nothing is definite in this fast-paced, fleeting game. The only sure thing is that the Big Green squad is excited to be finally hosting the tournament.
"We're coming in with confidence off of our wins this week," Merryfield said. "I think we're going to peak at the right time and have the chance to win."