"Our motto all year has been focus on Friday, finish on Saturday," Head Coach Ann Marie Larese said. "Saturday, we didn't play our best, and we're lucky that we can do that and still win."
Friday night was the first time that the Big Green swept Yale in 10 years, and only its second win against the Bulldogs since 2000.
Early on, it looked as though the match could go either way, as the two teams battled throughout the first game, with neither team truly dominating. Yale went on a run around the midpoint of the game, putting Dartmouth down five points, 15-10, in a match played to 30.
However, the Big Green fought back, tying the game at 22, and eventually winning the game 30-28 on a kill by Jess Thomas '09, assisted by co-captain Sandy Barbut '08.
In game two, the Big Green took its momentum from the first game and kept rolling, eventually winning by a 10-point spread, 30-20.
With the prospect of sweeping Yale, which was an early season pick to be one of the Ivy League's top teams, now a very real possibility, the Big Green did not let up, winning the third game going away, 30-19.
"Luck favored us Friday night," co-captain Katie Hirsch '08 said. "It was a very emotional game and our passing and defense were both amazing."
On Saturday afternoon, the Big Green did not have their best performance, but still managed a convincing win over Brown.
With the quick turnaround from the Friday night game to the Saturday afternoon contest, a slow start could have been expected. While the team did look a bit out of sorts early on, Dartmouth continued to play hard and came through in the clutch, winning the match on three tight games, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-23.
Thomas led the way with 20 kills, to add to her 15 kills on Friday night, which also was a team high. She is now sixth in the league in kills per game, with 3.66.
Also playing well for the Big Green were Morgan Covington '10, Megan McGregor '10 and Amanda Marston '10.
"We were able to capitalize on the momentum shifts and learn from our mistakes," Coach Larese said. "When you do that, you increase your chances to win."
When asked about the team's chances in the Ivy League and the possibility of an Ivy Championship, which would be a first for Dartmouth women's volleyball, Larese pointed to a tough Ivy schedule as an obstacle.
"If we can continue to put together solid matches, then I like our chances," Larese said. "But the Ivy League is very difficult, as we go on the road next week to Columbia and Cornell. It's a really long trip and invariably we won't arrive at Cornell until two in the morning, because of the game Friday. That makes for a very quick turnaround and is a big advantage for Cornell."
"Two weeks from now, the games against Penn and Princeton will be tough but we definitely can't take this next weekend lightly at all," the coach said.
A great accomplishment for the team this year has been fielding the same squad that finished last year with a record below .500 and turning into a winning force.
"Having basically the same returning starters has helped us this year, and the team has unified unbelievably since last season," Barbut said.
"One of the team's greatest strengths is that they are in great physical shape," Larese said. "Losing last year has made the team really hungry to win, and they made a commitment to improvement that seems to be paying off."
The team travels to Columbia and Cornell for games next Friday and Saturday before returning to host Penn and Princeton over Homecoming.
