Although the women's volleyball team fell to Yale University on Friday night, Dartmouth (10-6, 2-3 Ivy) redeemed its loss with a win against Brown University the following day.
The Big Green could not overcome the balanced and precise offensive attack of the Bulldogs (10-4, 4-0 Ivy). Yale's hitting average of .326 nearly tripled Dartmouth's at .116, and Yale also trumped Dartmouth in aces, 8-2.
After falling behind early in the first set, Dartmouth came back to take a 16-4 lead. The Big Green could not defend its advantage for long, however, as the Bulldogs surged ahead and took 11 of the final 12 points for a 25-17 win.
Madeline Baird '12 said Dartmouth fell flat against Yale's high-energy style of play and "didn't come out strong."
"We didn't come out strong," she said.
The Bulldogs' first set win paved the way for its performance during the remainder of the match. The beginning of the second set remained close, with the teams exchanging the lead multiple times early. With the score tied 9-9, however, the Bulldogs began to pull away. They won 16 of the next 20 points, sealing a 25-14 win.
Once the Bulldogs won the first point of the third set, they never relinquished the lead. Although the set was tight early, an eight-point run by Yale put the team solidly ahead, 16-7.
The teams played evenly for the remainder of the set, but the Big Green could not overcome its deficit and lost in the third set, 25-16.
Co-captain Annie Villanueva '12 led Dartmouth with 10 kills and Baird contributed seven, giving Baird 1,117 kills in her career and tying her with Ashley Dean '02 for second on Dartmouth's all-time list. Despite committed efforts from players, Baird attributed much of Dartmouth's loss to its inability to capitalize on effectively sending the ball over the Yale net.
"We didn't do a very good job of earning points on our own serve," she said.
The Big Green appeared to learn from Yale's balanced attack and played with a similar style against Brown (5-11, 1-4 Ivy) on Saturday. Three players amassed at least nine kills: Alex Schoenberger '15 with 11, Villanueva with 10 and Baird with nine.
During her performance on Saturday, Baird took sole possession of second place on the all-time kills list. Only 54 kills stand between Baird and Anne Murray '00, who currently holds first place with 1,180 kills.
The opening set was even at first, but the Big Green pulled away with the score tied at 11 midway through the frame. Dartmouth won 14 of the final 20 points for a 25-17 win.
Although the second set was much closer Dartmouth won, 25-22 Kendall Houston '12 said the team never felt its advantage was in danger.
"For the most part we were playing with the lead the whole time," she said. "At one time they went up by one point, but that just prompted us to take the lead and run away with it."
The Big Green used its momentum from the first two sets to take the third easily, 25-17. Dartmouth hit well in the match, with a .290 hitting percentage compared to Brown's .167. Brown also committed 18 attack errors to Dartmouth's eight.
Among stand-players in the game was Alissa Santa-Maria '13, who recorded a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.
Baird said the team was able to play with much more positive energy than it did the previous night against Yale.
"We really focused on celebrating the good things that we did, and we played a lot more aggressively with energy and flow," she said.
Dartmouth plays Columbia University and Cornell University this weekend at home. Columbia (10-5, 4-1 Ivy) currently sits in second place in the League, only trailing the undefeated Yale squad.
"We have to show up and execute, and have a really good week in practice," Houston said.
