For most teams, losing the first five games in season is not a good way to start. It usually means that worse things are yet to come. For Dartmouth volleyball, it may be just the opposite.
Last season, the Big Green started the season 1-7, including two winless tournament appearances. But the season was salvaged thanks to a hot streak during which Dartmouth won 15 of its remaining 23 matches and advanced as far as the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament.
In similar fashion, the Big Green have managed to stop the progress of an early-season avalanche with a three-game winning streak to improve their record to 3-5. And as the women prepare for this weekend's Dartmouth Invitational, there is reason to believe that the team can regain some of the momentum from last year's belated surge and ride it to another successful year.
"Historically our early preseason record hasn't been the most accurate gauge of how well we'll do once we get into the swing of things," said team co-captain Jessica Wirth '01. "We played some great teams in the Midwest and did really well against them, going to five games in some tough matches but just not taking advantage of every chance to pull out of games with wins.
"The University of Maine tournament ... was a great chance for us to be reminded of how it feels to fight for first place, which we look to be doing several more times this season," she said.
If the Green do keep winning, the biggest reason will most likely be the strong group of eight returning letter-winners. Only three players from last year's squad graduated, leaving an exceptionally strong sophomore class and a senior starter to carry the load.
Five freshmen also join the team this year.
Leading the junior class is outside hitter and co-captain Ashley Dean, who was named first-team All-Ivy last year. As a sophomore, she led the team in kills with 348 and made 476 digs, which was the highest on the team and 12th-highest in Division I women's volleyball.
Dean will have to pick up some of the slack left by graduated seniors Anne Murray and Janna Merryfield, who both played consistently well last season.
Jennifer Madsen '02 has returned with the athletic fire that helped secure her in first place on the team in blocked shots (64), second in service aces (34), and third in kills (221) last year. A strong start this year earned Madsen the MVP of the Maine Invitational last weekend.
Along with Dean, she was named to the All-Tournament team.
Joining Madsen in the middle is the lone senior Wirth. The co-captain provides the team with valuable experience gained over the past three years. Last year, she was tied for second on the team with 107 games played.
Wirth is also a strong defensive player, notching 59 blocks last season, which was second highest on the team.
Setter Jordan Schmidt '03 is already off to a running start this year. She followed up her 457-assist year last season by tallying a career-high 60 assists against Ohio and breaking that record the same day with 63 assists against Valparaiso.
The defense is led by Erin Naipo '02, who picked up ample experience in 107 games last year.
Ann Marie Larese returns for her seventh year as the head coach and will try to lead the Big Green to its sixth consecutive year above .500.
After losing in the finals of the Ivy tournament in 1998 and bowing out in the semis last season, Dartmouth team has a viable shot at the Ivy League title this year.
"We're not satisfied until we've won the Ivy League Championship match," Wirth said. "We'll just have to continue to work hard to ensure that the progress continues."
