Baird's Big Night Sends Dartmouth Past Brown, 3-1

Friday, October 31

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

BROWN

Baird's Big Night Sends Dartmouth Past Brown, 3-1

10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. ? A solid team effort led by rookie Madeline Baird's (Austin, Texas) career-high 27 kills gave the Dartmouth women's volleyball team a 3-1 victory over Brown this evening at Leede Arena.

Dartmouth cruised to victory in set one, 25-13 before Brown eked out a win in set two, 25-23. The Big Green rallied to take sets three and four, both by scores of 25-21.

The win moves the Big Green to 7-12, 3-6 Ivy and gives the squad a boost heading into tomorrow night's showdown with league leader Yale, who improved to 8-1 in Ivy play by beating Harvard, 3-0, tonight. Brown dropped to 11-10, 3-6 Ivy.

Baird scored 28 points for Dartmouth including 27 kills, hitting .440 for the match. As a team, the Big Green hit a solid .408 overall, including standout performances by sophomore Kelsey Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif.), who hit .667 for 11 kills and Morgan Covington (Katy, Texas) who hammered home 13 kills on .571 hitting. Johnson also added a match-high three service aces and four blocks.

Junior Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) served Dartmouth to four-straight points to open set one and the Big Green never looked back. The Green inflated its lead to 16-8 before Brown scored four straight points to pull within four, down 16-12. Senior Jess Thomas (Tampa, Fla.) took control with her serve and led Dartmouth on a 6-0 run to go up 23-12, quickly sealing the deal for the 25-13 win.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair from the start. Brown took an early 3-2 lead off a Brianna Williamson kill and though Dartmouth stayed close, the Bears never relinquished the lead. The Bears kept the Big Green at bay, leading by as many as five points during the set. Though Johnson made things interesting with a late kill and ace, Brown recovered wit a big hit from Lyndse Yess to capture the set, 25-22.

The third set was more of the same, only this time it was Dartmouth that managed a slight edge throughout. After a series of early ties, the Big Green went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-9 lead off a Covington kill. The Bears would cut the lead to as little as one point late in the set, but Dartmouth's blockers came to life late in the set to clinch the 25-21 win.

Three straight points by Covington early in set four propelled the Big Green to an 8-3 lead. Brown came surging back, but Baird silenced their rally with a big hit to put Dartmouth on top 14-10, for good. Each time the Bears tried to mount a rally, the Big Green shut them down with a balanced late attack to take the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.

Rookie setter Kendall Houston (Austin, Texsas) had another solid night for the Big Green, posting 48 assists and nine digs. Classmate Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) paced the defense with 17 digs.

Brown hit just .234 for the match but had three players score in double-figures. Megan Towan led the attack with 16 kills while setter Natalie Meyers finished with a double-double on 44 sets and 10 digs.

The Big Green hits the hardwood again tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Yale at 4:00 p.m. at Leede Arena.