Dartmouth Volleyball Loses Tough Fight to Cornell

Saturday, October 18

Hanover, N.H.

4:00 PM

Dartmouth College

CORNELL (Homecoming)

Dartmouth Volleyball Loses Tough Fight to Cornell

10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - In a fight to the finish the Dartmouth women's volleyball team lost a close five-set match to the visiting Cornell Big Red on Saturday. The loss spoils a homecoming sweep for the Big Green. The two sides battled back and forth but it was the Big Red that came away with the 3-2 victory. Game scores were 25-15, 24-26, 23-25, 25-18, 10-15. The loss drops Dartmouth to 6-10 overall, 2-4 Ivy while Cornell continues its hold on the second spot in the league standings with a 5-1 Ivy record, 6-9 overall.

In the first set it was point-for-point in the early goings with neither side getting more than a three-point lead. The Big Green steadily started to pull away leading to a Cornell timeout. A huge solo block by Kelsey Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif.) helped Dartmouth score the next five points as the Big Red needed another break. A Cornel error led to game point as the BIg Green took the first set.

Like the first set, the second started in much the same way. Johnson notched a kill that gave the home team a three-point lead before Madeline Baird's (Austin, Texas) block put her team up by four, 15-11. Cornell began to march back and pulled to within two before a timeout by the visitors. The Big Red came out from the break and tied the contest at 19 before taking its first lead since the beginning part of the set. Jess Thomas (Tampa, Fla.) had a kill that tied the contest at 22 as the two sides traded the lead for the next several points. A service ace won the game for Cornell as they tied the match up.

The Big Red came out on fire in the third going up 6-1 quickly before Dartmouth took a timeout. The Big Red steadily increased the lead going up by as much as nine. Another Dartmouth timeout had the Big Green regroup and start chipping away at the lead, getting to 16-20. Thomas helped her team get to within a point and then tie at 22 but Cornell was able to hold on and take a two-set lead.

The fourth set was back-and-forth to start as neither side could get the advantage. Dartmouth held a six-point lead at 18-12 and then pulled away as Baird and Johnson both had kills that allowed the Big Green to win, 25-18.

The fifth and final set was pretty much the Big Red's as the visitors took over a tied game and led by as much as six enroute to a 15-10 victory.

Three Dartmouth players were in double-figures in kills, led by Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) with 16. Kendall Houston (Austin, Texas) was tops in setting with 43 while four players had double-digit digs. Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) led her squad with 22 as Baird chipped in 19.

Cornell outblocked the Big Green, 21 to nine.

Dartmouth will be back in action next weekend, traveling to Penn and Princeton on Friday and Saturday.