Closing out its season at home against Brown University and first-place Yale University, the Dartmouth volleyball team won both games to end with a winning Ivy League record and its best finish since 2007. Dartmouth (16-9, 8-6 Ivy) placed fourth in the League behind Yale, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Dartmouth faced Brown (6-19, 2-12 Ivy) on Friday having already beaten the Bears in straight sets earlier this season. History repeated itself, as the Big Green again went on to sweep Brown.
The Bears kept pace with Dartmouth in the first set, never trailing by more than three points. The Big Green still maintained a consistent lead, however, and won the set, 25-23, on a kill by co-captain Annie Villanueva '12.
Dartmouth cruised through the next two sets.
In the second, Dartmouth started with a 4-0 run and never allowed Brown to catch up. Although the Bears amassed their own four-point run late in the set, two kills by Elisa Scudder '14 and one by Meghan Cooney '14 ended the set at 25-20.
Brown won the first point of the third set, but failed to create any lasting momentum. Dartmouth pulled away in the middle of the set, winning eight of 13 points for a 21-16 lead. Villanueva again ended the set and this time, the match with a kill.
On its senior night on Saturday, the Big Green took on Yale (18-6, 12-2 Ivy), which had already clinched the League Championship. With friends and family in attendance, however, the game was an important one for Dartmouth.
"We wanted to prove to ourselves that we were better than any other team in the Ivy League," Kendall Houston '12 said.
The two teams alternated winning sets for most of the match, with Dartmouth taking the first and third and Yale taking the second and fourth.
Madeline Baird '12 started the match-deciding fifth set with an ace. The Big Green then extended the early lead, taking a 6-0 advantage on four combined kills by Baird, Lucia Pohlman '15 and Alex Schoenberger '15. Multiple digs by co-captain Amber Bryant '12 also keyed the run.
Scudder recorded a new single-season blocking record for Dartmouth during the match. Her 85 blocks easily exceeded the record of Andrea Sea '03, who totaled 80 blocks in 2001.
The Bulldogs narrowed Dartmouth's lead to just three points at 13-10, but Pohlman ended the set with two kills to give the Big Green a 15-13 victory.
With the match's conclusion, Villanueva officially broke Dartmouth's single-season and career hitting percentage records. For the season, Villanueva's percentage was .372, shattering the previous record of .347 held by Danra Kazenski '99. For her career, Villanueva had a percentage of .290, beating the record of .281 set by Felicity Kolp '99.
Baird, Schoenberger, Villanueva and Pohlman all totaled more than 10 kills in the match. Houston recorded 55 assists and 13 digs, while Bryant had 19 digs.
Houston said the team was thrilled to end on a positive note.
"It was definitely a good way to go out," Houston said.
Bryant said the match reflected that the "culture of this program is changing."
"It was definitely the best game we have played this season and we proved we could beat the best in our League," she said. "You can't really ask for more than that."
Villanueva said the win reflected the team's success throughout the season.
"I'm so proud of our team and all the work we've put into this year," she said. "It all really came together last night, and we finished with so much heart and fire."
