The Dartmouth women's volleyball team lost its last two home games of the season, falling to Princeton, 3-0, on Friday and to the University of Pennsylvania, 3-2, on Saturday in Leede Arena in Hanover.
The losses put Dartmouth (8-15, 3-9 Ivy) in seventh place in the Ivy League standings. Princeton (16-3, 10-1 Ivy) is currently in second, behind Yale. Penn (12-11, 8-3 Ivy) is in third place, and with the win over Dartmouth, Penn secured a game-and-a-half lead over Cornell.
On Friday, the Big Green lost in three sets to a strong Princeton side. Dartmouth held the lead in every set but could not keep the Tigers from rolling to a straight-set victory.
In the first set, the Big Green stormed out the gates to an 8-1 lead. The Tigers then rallied to make it 8-7. After a timeout, Dartmouth had a short spell of good play before Princeton tied the set at 13 apiece. The Tigers were dominant the rest of the set, winning 25-19.
Dartmouth came out strong in the second set as well, running out to an 8-2 lead. The Tigers once again clawed their way back into the game, however, tying the set at 11. Again, Princeton ran away from the Big Green in the end, winning the set 25-18.
"I don't think they did anything special to come back," Morgan Covington '10 said of Princeton's play in the first two sets. "It was mental lapses on our part, and it definitely makes it more frustrating because we clearly could have had both those sets."
The third set saw the Tigers lead most of the way. Princeton got off to a 5-1 lead before a good run by Dartmouth tied the score at 10-10. The Big Green trailed the Tigers by two points until a critical save by Amber Bryant '12 led to a kill by Annie Villanueva '12 that cut the deficit to 22-21. A Covington kill tied the score at 22, and on the next play the Big Green took the lead. The Tigers proved too strong, however, scoring the rest of the points in the set and winning 25-23.
"We showed a lot of heart," Covington said. "We could've just as easily rolled over and lost. We definitely had them scared for a bit."
On Saturday, Dartmouth lost in five sets to Penn, who defeated the Big Green in straight sets just two weeks ago.
For most of the first set, neither team could gain control, with the lead changing hands multiple times. Eventually, the Quakers were able to build an 18-13 lead. Dartmouth rallied for a couple of points to cut the lead to 18-15, but Penn was able to maintain at least a three-point advantage at all times en route to a 25-20 win.
The second set was much like the first, with neither team grabbing a commanding lead. Dartmouth jumped out to a late 19-16 advantage after Penn's brief stint on top. The Big Green never relinquished its lead, winning the set, 25-20, and evening the match at one set each.
"They came out sluggish, I thought, because they had just played a tough match against Harvard," Covington said. "I think we capitalized on that and the first two sets clearly could have both gone either way."
Penn flattened Dartmouth in the third set, maintaining a five-point lead throughout the 25-15 win.
In the fourth set, the Big Green was able to accumulate and maintain a 7-4 lead. Penn showed life on numerous occasions, cutting the lead to four at one point. Dartmouth remained composed, however, winning the set 25-19.
"We won the fourth set because we absolutely had to," co-captain Megan MacGregor '10 said. "We wanted it more than they did, and we came together as a team and played well."
The fifth and deciding set was similar to the first two sets of the match, with both teams keeping close to each other. The Quakers built the biggest lead of the set at 12-9. Dartmouth was able to climb back within one point at 13-12. Penn, however, closed out the game with two straight points to win the set, 15-12, grabbing its second straight win over the Big Green.
"They're an experienced team and it definitely showed on Saturday," MacGregor said. "They've won more five-game matches than anyone else in the Ivy League, and we've only played in two five-game matches."
Throughout the season, with the exception of its match against Harvard in early October, the Big Green has kept the score tight in every set, hardly ever trailing by more than five points. In the end, however, Dartmouth has a tendency to relinquish the lead and falter in the closing moments of matches. This was again the case over the weekend and is something that coach Ann Marie Larese will no doubt address.
"It is something we need to work on," MacGregor said. "We just need to play well consistently throughout the whole match. I think it'll come with experience."
It was the last home game for co-captain Jess Thomas '09. Despite the loss, she was pleased with the team's performance.
"She's been such an asset to the team. We all love her," MacGregor said. "She got her 1,000th kill, which is phenomenal. I'm sure it was emotional for her and her family. We're going to miss her."
Dartmouth travels to Cornell and Columbia to play its last games of the season next weekend, squaring off against the Big Red on Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. before traveling to New York City to face the Lions on Saturday. Two wins could catapult the Big Green into fifth place in the Ivy League.
