The Big Green (8-9, 1-4 Ivy) opened Homecoming Friday against the Lions (4-9, 2-2 Ivy). The loss was the Big Green's sixth straight loss of the season and the seventh consecutive loss against Columbia in program history.
Dartmouth took Columbia to five sets, starting in dramatic fashion and rallying from a 24-22 deficit to a 26-24 victory. The Big Green dominated the second set, never losing the lead, on their way to a 25-20 victory.
"We came out really strong in the game against Columbia," co-captain Elisa Scudder '14 said. "We won the first two, but dropped the next three since we weren't able to maintain our level of play throughout the night. It was very up and down."
After the 2-0 match lead, Dartmouth dropped three straight sets to lose the game 5-2.
"We've been struggling because we have a very high ceiling as a team, but the question is if we can sustain our highest level of play as a team long enough to win a match," co-captain Lucia Pohlman '15 said. "Friday we came out really strong but didn't sustain and didn't win."
Coming back Saturday, the Big Green ended their six-game losing streak with the program's first victory over Cornell (5-9, 2-3 Ivy) since 2011.
"We were mentally really wanting that first Ivy win," Pohlman said. "It gave everyone on the team confidence that we can do it, that we're a strong team. What was holding us back was a mental lack of confidence and self doubt. Beating Cornell wiped away those excuses."
The game was the opposite of Friday's, with Dartmouth starting out down 0-2 and coming back with three straight victories. The first two sets were close, with both teams taking the lead at alternating points, but the third set found Dartmouth able to break it open.
"Playing Columbia and Cornell is always like this, since they are always similar teams but the games always end up a little wonky," Pohlman said. "The two games were the exact opposite situation: Friday we won the first two, but Saturday we didn't dominate the first three and lost them. It is very difficult if you lose the first two, because you have to have a lot of determination to come back and win the next three."
Leading the entire third set except for the first point, the Big Green was able to start early with a 4-1 lead and finish with a 25-19 victory. The fourth set was even until Dartmouth went on a five-point run, followed by a seven-point run to put them ahead 17-8 and hold that lead for a 25-23 victory.
"At the break we decided to try and get more offense coming from our right side hitters, since we identified that Cornell was having trouble defending us from that side of the court," coach Erin Lindsey said. "We tried to convert defensively and touch a lot more balls on defense, which allowed us many more opportunities to score. We were able to come together and put together a win, so now it is just a mater of us being able to do that more often."
The fifth and final set started strong for Dartmouth as well, as the women broke open a 6-1 lead, which they held until Cornell tied it at 10-10 and again at 12-12. The Big Green finished the set with a 3-0 run to win the fifth and final set 15-12.
"We came out on Saturday and learned from our experience Friday, where we weren't able to finish," Lindsey said. "The team used that and the feeling of not wanting that to happen again to complete the opposite scenario. It is just a matter of us experiencing different things as we learn what we're best at and use that to move forward. We are really trying to learn how to manage the momentum of the game."
With one Ivy victory under their belt, the team is back on the road again next weekend, traveling to Princeton University on Friday, followed by the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
"This was a really big growth weekend for us," Lindsey said. "We are getting so much closer to what we want to be. It can be pretty devastating to be up that much and then lose. That is the interesting part about volleyball the momentum can change so much."
