On the road for the third time this month, the Dartmouth women's volleyball team was unable to notch a much-needed win, falling to both Yale and Brown in straight sets and dropping to sixth place in the Ivy League.
The Big Green (7-11, 3-5 Ivy) has now lost five of its last six games after the season's brief encouraging start.
Heading into Friday's matchup in New Haven, Conn., Dartmouth looked to upset a formidable Bulldog squad that includes last year's Ivy Player of the Year, Yale senior Cat Dailey.
With sharp kills and even sharper defense, Yale quickly built a 13-1 first-set lead that overshadowed the Big Green's comeback efforts.
Outgunned on offense, Dartmouth was unable to maintain service possession long enough to establish momentum swings, as the Bulldogs ran away with the first frame 25-12.
"Yale has a strong offense, and we knew what we had to do to contain them," co-captain Megan MacGregor '10 said. "I felt like we did an alright job doing so, but we lost the match with our own mental and unforced errors."
The second set was less lopsided early on, as the Big Green began to settle into its comfort zone and battled point-for-point against Yale's streaky attack.
Trailing 11-10, however, Dartmouth began to falter, giving up five straight points to the home team. Yale quickly capitalized on the Big Green's lapse in tempo, riding a 9-5 point surge that gave the Bulldogs a decisive second-set win.
"We need to work this week on our overall consistency as a team," MacGregor said. "We weren't able to put away the important points this weekend."
The third frame was all Yale, as the Bulldogs opened with a 10-1 run that padded the home team's advantage and confidence. While Dartmouth would close the gap to five points, the Bulldogs managed to keep their point total out of reach to post a lopsided 25-14 victory.
Hitting percentages reflected the disparity in offense, as the Big Green was outhit by Yale .368 to .094.
Annie Villanueva '12 led the team with seven kills, while MacGregor posted a team-high 15 digs.
At Saturday's match in Providence, R.I., Dartmouth sought to continue its recent success against Brown. The team had posted only one loss to the Bears since October 2005 before this weekend's meeting.
The Big Green quelled an early Brown surge to take a two-point lead at 10-8. Eager and poised, the Bears clawed back into contention with a seven-point run and never looked back, holding off a late Big Green rally to take the first frame 25-22.
In the second set, a determined Brown squad found its momentum, rushing to a 4-0 advantage.
Despite consistent efforts from MacGregor and Villanueva, the Big Green was unable to chip into the Bears' lead.
Brown would finish the crucial second set 25-18.
Unwilling to let the game slip away, Dartmouth stemmed the Bears' energy in the third frame. Trailing by one at 13-12, however, the Big Green fell into a pattern of miscues and errors, letting Brown slip away.
The Bears seemed to have Dartmouth's number, as the team's defense boosted Brown's confidence and repeatedly frustrated Big Green strikers down the stretch. Brown would go on to take third frame 25-14 and win the game in straight sets.
For the second straight day, the Big Green offense was relatively stagnant, hitting a modest .163 to Brown's .291. Brown also outblocked Dartmouth 9-5.
MacGregor led all players with 11 kills. Alissa Santa Maria '13 and Lexi Campbell '13 each posted double-digit digs, with 10 and 13 respectively.
The women's squad will be back home next weekend at Leede Arena to face Ivy rivals Columbia at 7 p.m. on Friday and Cornell at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"We are looking forward to the upcoming games to get back what we lost this past weekend," MacGregor said. "We remain positive, but it is going to take a lot of hard work and focus at practice."
