We've all heard the saying: "Things are always darkest before the dawn." This statement certainly rings true for the Dartmouth women's volleyball team.
After suffering a heartbreaking five-game defeat at the hands of Harvard last weekend and the loss of star player Jen Madsen '02 to injury, the team embarks on a crucial road trip to Brown and Yale this weekend.
Last Friday's home match against Harvard was truly remarkable. Although the Big Green came up short in the fifth game, the team has taken the defeat as a chance to learn and prepare for future matches.
Coach Ann Marie Larese said that her team "has used the Harvard game as a good springboard to refocus some of our overall goals for the Ivy League season. Reducing our unforced errors and continuing to have great serve reception are high on that list."
However, attaining these goals became markedly more difficult this week. Madsen played the entire Harvard match with her left thumb heavily taped and was hopeful that the injury was not too serious.
No such luck. Instead, she has done some significant damage to that thumb and will be undergoing surgery in the next couple of days. Whether she will be able to play in any of the team's remaining Ivy contests is still up in the air.
This is a heavy blow because Madsen has been a tremendous leader on the court this season. She has produced some crucial kills at critical points in matches and her enthusiasm and energy on the court is unmatched. Madsen is currently third on the team in both kills (136, 2.89 per game) and digs (102, 2.17 per game).
Fortunately for the Big Green, the team is deep and has an extremely talented group of offensive players. Even though the rest of Dartmouth's hitters should be able to account for many of the statistics that Madsen usually puts up, it will be much more difficult for the squad to duplicate her on-court presence.
One of Madsen's co-captains, Ashley Dean '02, expressed how the team's presence changes without Madsen in the line-up: "There is no doubt that there is no other 'Jen Madsen' on this team. She has been a huge part of our success and still holds a valuable role on the team. Things are going to be different on the court, but we are ready to adapt and utilize everyone's skills to the best of their abilities."
The Big Green will have to be up and running on all cylinders this weekend as the women face two tough opponents in Brown and Yale. The Bears are coming off a 2-1 performance at the Brown Invitational, which boosted their record to 7-7 (2-0 Ivies). The Bulldogs have dropped both of their Ivy contests so far this season and boast a 6-5 mark overall.
"Brown and Yale have not traditionally been [terribly] difficult matches for us," Coach Larese said, sizing up the team's weekend opponents. "However, this year, every team in the league is strong in at least one area of the game. There is a pervasive 'do or die' mentality [that comes with each match], since there is no Ivy League Tournament at the end of the season to seek revenge. I'm looking forward to the weekend with high expectations."
