On the road for its first Ivy doubleheader of the season, the Dartmouth women's volleyball team edged Columbia in a thrilling five-set tiebreaker on Friday night before falling to Cornell, 3-1, on Saturday.
The Big Green (7-7, 3-1 Ivy) finished the weekend sitting in second in the league standings. Columbia (10-7, 1-3 Ivy) dropped to seventh place, while Cornell (5-10, 2-2 Ivy) settled for fourth after splitting the weekend matchups.
"This weekend, I think we learned how to maintain a level of mental toughness while on the road," co-captain Morgan Covington '10 said. "Cornell and Columbia is the longest road trip we will have all season, and our team handled it well."
Heading into the doubleheader, Dartmouth looked for its usual offensive consistency and firepower that have dominated in previous league matches.
On Friday, Columbia decided to fight fire with fire.
The first set was close early on, as both teams vied for an elusive lead. Strikers from both sides kept defenders on their heels.
Dartmouth eventually surged ahead, finishing with a kill to take the opening set, 25-21.
Dartmouth took the second set too, but neither team showed signs of backing down. After Columbia took an early three-point lead, the Big Green fought back to tie the score at six. A tight battle ensued, as the two teams paced each other to the finish.
Tied at 24, the Big Green eked a one-point lead before Columbia erased the advantage on the next point. A mental slip in the Lions' focus, however, gave Dartmouth a second chance to clinch, as the visitors stole the set, 27-25.
Remaining composed, Columbia stormed to a 9-5 lead in the third frame. Increasing its advantage to seven, the Lions appeared to be running away with the set before Dartmouth muzzled Columbia's momentum with a 6-0 run to narrow the Lions' lead to one at 18-17.
The set was once more down to the wire, as both teams stared down set point after set point. Tied at 27, Dartmouth was the first to blink, and Columbia squeezed out a 29-27 win.
The Big Green quickly bounced back, boosting a seven-point lead at 14-7 before the Lions rallied with a 10-3 run that swung the momentum decidedly in the home team's favor.
Riding high on its rally, Columbia secured the fourth set, 25-19.
In the fifth set tiebreak, a crucial kill by Covington reignited the potent Dartmouth offense. The Big Green outlasted Columbia, 15-10, in the decisive final frame, winning the match 3-2.
"We were disappointed that we couldn't finish in three of four games, so we came out strong from the first point of the fifth," co-captain Megan MacGregor '10 said.
Madeline Baird '12, recording a .340 hitting percentage, posted a season-high 23 kills and a career-high 27 digs, while MacGregor added 20 kills and 14 digs.
Kendall Houston '12, who notched 20 digs and four blocks, had a career-high 54 assists.
On Saturday, the Big Green sought to extend its three-game winning streak while trying to avoid its third straight loss to the Big Red, which swept the season series against Dartmouth last year.
Cornell came out strong in first set, posting five straight points and never looking back, as the home team rolled to a quick 25-17 win.
The second set saw much a tighter matchup, as the two teams engaged an offensive duel that had 17 ties and eight lead changes.
With the score knotted at 22, Cornell was able to capitalize on the Big Green's errors to take the second frame, 25-22.
Facing a straight-set sweep, Dartmouth managed to jumpstart its attack towards the middle of the set, boosting an 8-3 run to tie the frame at 19.
A kill by Kelsey Johnson '11 capped off the late Big Green surge to secure the Dartmouth win, 25-22, and keep the Big Green alive.
Confident and poised, Dartmouth was ready to stage its own comeback effort.
The Big Green offense came alive early the fourth set, building a seven-point advantage at 16-9. Cornell, however, clawed its way back.
Kills from Big Red outside hitter Deveney Pula backed a persistent Cornell attack that slowly steadied the wobbling front row.
Although leading by four points at 21-17, Dartmouth was unable to sprint to the finish, allowing the Big Red to catch up and tie at 24. A Cornell service ace combined with a Pula kill pushed the home team to a narrow win over the visiting Big Green.
"It was a shame that we let in those last couple of points at the end of the fourth, because we knew we would have outplayed them in the fifth set," MacGregor said. "We are in better shape than they are and the momentum would have been on our side."
Dartmouth's in town again next weekend to face off against rivals University of Pennsylvania (11-4, 2-0 Ivy) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Princeton (3-11, 1-2 Ivy) at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday at Leede Arena in another Ivy League doubleheader.
