Dartmouth Volleyball Loses Hard Fought Match to Penn on Senior Night

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. - Down 2-1 the Dartmouth (7-15, 3-9 Ivy) women's volleyball team fought back to take the fourth set, forcing a deciding game but Penn (12-11, 8-3 Ivy) was able to hold on to take the 3-2 victory over the Big Green on Senior Night. The match was senior co-captain Jess Thomas' (Tampa, Fla.) last home match of her career.

A back-and-forth first set had neither team getting the lead but a Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) helped her team pull ahead. Penn went ahead by two and held the lead for the next couple of points before eventually increasing its lead to five as Dartmouth had to take a timeout. A Morgan Covington (Katy, Texas) kill put the Big Green down by just three at 15-18 as the Quakers were forced to take the timeout. Dartmouth kept it to within three as Kendall Houston (Austin, Texas) helped serve her team to within one point but Penn was able to hold on for the 25-20 victory.

The Quakers went ahead quickly in Set Two but the Big Green hung around never going down by more than three. A Baird kill tied the set at 5-5 before several Penn errors allowed Dartmouth to over the lead as the Quakers had to burn a timeout to stop the Big Green's momentum. The two sides continues to trade the lead before Penn eventually went up by two but Dartmouth came right back on a huge block by Covington and Baird to take a 19-16 lead. A Quaker error gave the Big Green game point before a blocking error helped Dartmouth take the 25-20 win and tie the match at two apiece.

Penn again took the early lead in the third set and never allowed Dartmouth to get closer than five enroute to a 25-15 victory.

A kill by Thomas gave Dartmouth an early 7-4 lead in the fourth set. Annie Villanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.) blocked a kill to increase her team's lead before a Penn error had the Big Green up 9-5 as the Quakers took a timeout. Behind Thomas serving Dartmouth increased its lead to 12-5. Another Penn error had the visitors using another timeout as the Big Green continued to dominate the set. The Quakers got to within four but a Covington kill ended the set at 25-19.

The final set was exciting as both sides had huge plays to start as neither side was able to get a more than a two-point lead. Thomas killed the ball as the Big Green was able to go up by three before the Quakers took a timeout. After the break Penn stormed back to score the next two but a Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) kill allowed Dartmouth to keep the lead close. A tremendous block by Ashley Hawkins and Anne Magnuson allowed Penn to take the lead as the Quakers continued to build the momentum, going up 12-9 before the Big Green took a timeout. A Houston service ace got Dartmouth to pull to within one but a kill by Julia Swanson ended the set as Penn escaped with a 15-12 victory.

Thomas and Baird both ended the night with 14 kills as MacGregor added 12. Houston was the Big Green's top setter with 43 as she also one of four to have double-figure digs with 12. Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) was tops for Dartmouth with 18 digs as Baird added 17 and Thomas had 15.

The Big Green takes to the road next weekend for its final matches of the season. Dartmouth will take on Cornell on Friday night at 7:00 pm before traveling to Columbia on Saturday at 4:00 pm.

Schedules