Coming off a 3-1 performance last weekend in the Dartmouth Invitational, women's volleyball posted two decisive wins against Ivy rivals, upsetting Princeton in three games (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) before sweeping the University of Pennsylvania (30-25, 30-24, 30-27). The wins put Dartmouth in solid position for the rest of the season as the Big Green improved to a record of 8-6 overall, 2-2 Ivy.
"These two wins have given us so much confidence and ambition for the rest of the season," middle blocker Nadine Parris '06 said. "I haven't seen the program defeat Princeton in years, and I sure haven't seen the team beat up on our opponents like we did this weekend."
Princeton (11-1, 1-1 Ivy) came into Friday night's game looking to extend its undefeated season, but the women in green had other ideas. Dartmouth showed none of the early-game slowness of previous matches, playing point-for-point with Princeton for the opening rallies of the first game. A mid-game Princeton run to 22-19 was not enough to stop the Big Green. Dartmouth battled back, tying the game at 24, 25, 26 and 27, before scoring three straight for the first win.
The first rallies of the second game gave Dartmouth fans a scare as Princeton, aided by three passing errors by the Big Green, leapt out to a 4-1 lead. Dartmouth dispelled those fears by responding with a five-point run led by strong serving from Jess Thomas '09.
The game was close until Princeton scored five straight to go up 19-16. A Dartmouth time-out let the Big Green women break the Princeton streak and pull back before Sandy Barbut '08 served five in a row to give Dartmouth a three-point lead at 25-22. Princeton was unable to bridge the gap and the Big Green took the game 30-27.
Dartmouth started the third game of the match strong, going up 18-11 over the Tigers, before Dartmouth errors and strong hitting from Princeton helped the Tigers tie the game at 22. The Big Green held up under the pressure and responded, catching up to Princeton at 27 before pressing on for the win.
The victory over rival Princeton was Dartmouth's first Ivy League win. The women in green showed that they could hold their own under pressure, responding well to Princeton runs during the games and defeating an undefeated league rival.
After taking out Princeton, Dartmouth played Penn (6-8, 1-2 Ivy) the following night. Capitalizing on Quaker errors and maintaining strong play on their side of the net, the Big Green extended its winning streak to four games.
After an ace from Amanda Marston '10 and a nice assist to Thomas from setter Katie Hirsch '08 put Dartmouth up 10-6 in the opening game, Penn was able to side-out on a kill from their outside hitter. The Quakers were able to rally, coming as close as two points down at 19-17, but three straight Dartmouth kills made it clear that the Big Green would take the first game.
The Quakers came out fighting in the second game, taking the lead several times in the early going. After a kill by Barbut sent Thomas back to serve at 13-14, the sophomore outside hitter led Dartmouth on a four-point run, tallying a kill from the back row in the process.
Nevertheless, strong serving from Thomas sealed the deal for Dartmouth, putting the Big Green up 29-22 before a tool from Megan MacGregor '10 ended the game 30-24.
Tough serving, including two aces by Hirsch, put Dartmouth up 8-3, but the Quakers came alive with their backs against the wall and put up a tough fight in the third game. They would never again let Dartmouth lead by more than three, but consistent play by the Big Green, led by strong performances by Morgan Covington '10 and Nadine Parris '07, helped Dartmouth hold off the Quakers for the win, 30-27.
Dartmouth will play Brown (4-11, 0-3 Ivy) at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on Yale (8-4, 3-0 Ivy) on Saturday.
