The Dartmouth women's volleyball team (12-6, 5-3 Ivy) had two more pitfalls this weekend as the team faced its toughest Ivy League competition to date and lost close games on Friday to Penn (12-7, 5-2 Ivy) and Saturday to Princeton (15-3, 7-0 Ivy).
Coming into the weekend, the Big Green knew that it would not have a Homecoming cakewalk, as the team was facing the first and third teams in the Ivy League standings. However, Leede Arena is always a formidable home court for the Big Green and, especially on Saturday, the crowd kept the intensity levels high.
Friday afternoon against Penn the Big Green faced a tough challenge as the Quakers lineup featured 10 women who were over six feet tall, as opposed to the three on the Dartmouth roster. The size mismatch in the end contributed greatly to the three-games-to-one loss.
In the first game, Dartmouth jumped out to a quick start, going up 4-0. But as the game wore on, it was obvious that the Big Green was not its usual self, as offensively the team only had a .059 shooting percentage, far below its season average. This lack of offense hurt the Big Green, as it dropped game one, 30-24.
Game two saw much of the same, as the Big Green struggled again offensively and never held a lead. For most of the game, the Big Green trailed by four points and never closed the gap, losing 30-27.
"We didn't have a lead until we won game three last night and we are a team that plays much better when we're ahead," Head Coach Ann Marie Larese said.
In game three, the Big Green showed its resiliency, taking the game 30-27 with its best attacking performance of the night. Nevertheless, pushed by some early runs from the Quakers, the Big Green fell 30-19 in game four.
Captain Sandy Barbut '08 and Jess Thomas '09 had 13 and 11 kills respectively during the match.
On Saturday, Dartmouth was looking for a different result, attempting to knock Princeton off the top of its Ivy League perch and soil its undefeated Ivy record. However, it was not to be as Dartmouth fell in heartbreaking fashion in a five-game thriller.
In game one, it appeared as though the Big Green had not shaken off its poor form from Friday afternoon as the team spotted Princeton an early 10-point advantage. The Tigers' lead did not last long as the Big Green stepped up and fought back with vengeance. Dartmouth narrowed the deficit to six and then, with Amanda Marston '10 serving, the team successfully survived multiple game points to tie the game at 29-29. As a team needs to win by at least two points, the squads battled back and forth, with neither garnering the elusive second consecutive point for victory. This trend continued until Princeton knocked home two kills to win the game, 37-35.
The momentum from game one, however, belonged to Dartmouth, as the comeback seemed to motivate the team. The Big Green pushed out to an early lead in game two, and was effectively able to protect that lead, as Dartmouth won game two 30-22. Kelsey Johnson '11 recorded a number of key kills throughout the game.
In game three the Big Green offense continued to play strong and maintain leads, winning the game 30-25 to take a two-games-to-one advantage.
With an upset in sight, the Big Green certainly did not take its foot off the gas, but Princeton awoke like a sleeping giant late in the game. Game four was a very tight affair, as Dartmouth was able to take a 28-25 lead late in the game. However Princeton junior Lindsay Ensign and team captain Parker Henritze stepped up to lead their team. Ensign is the leading hitter in the league and showed it in this game: She had 26 kills and a shooting percentage of .478. Henritze stepped up along with Ensign as she spiked home the final two points to win the fourth game 30-28 and send the match to a decisive fifth game.
In game five, the Big Green, perhaps shocked by Henritze's late-game heroics in game four, did not have the same form it had demonstrated during the first four games, spotting Princeton a sizeable lead, which the Tigers converted into a game and match win, to record their 14th straight victory.
"The effort we showed on Saturday is what we have to give in order to beat teams like Princeton," Coach Larese said. "Emotionally, we were present unlike on Friday. The effort and heart we showed will certainly take us farther this year than we have been in the past."
Looking forward, the Big Green is on the road at Brown and Yale next week before traveling to Penn and Princeton to try to avenge the team's two most recent defeats.
"It's not an easy road," Larese said. "But if we set some realistic goals of what we can achieve in each game, I think we will manage and certainly be successful."
