Dartmouth Women's Volleyball Opens Play at the Dartmouth Invitational

Friday, September 18

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

SACRED HEART

Dartmouth Women's Volleyball Opens Play at the Dartmouth Invitational

9/18/2009 9:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth (3-5) women's volleyball team opened play at its own Dartmouth Invitational, dropping the first match of the tourney to Sacred Heart (6-4). In a hard-fought match the Big Green rallied several times but could not escape the Pioneers as SHU came away with the 3-1 victory. Game scores were 25-18, 22-25, 27-29, 23-25.

For the match Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) led Dartmouth in kills with 15 while Megan MacGregor (Carlsbad, Calif.) added 11. Kendall Houston (Austin, Texas) was tops for the Big Green in sets with 29 while getting a double-double with 14 digs. Morgan Covington (Katy, Texas) and Annie Villanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.) each had four total blocks but Dartmouth would be led by sophomore Krista Merchat (Carlsbad, Calif.) with one solo and six assisted blocks as the Big Green outblocked SHU, 23-21.

For the Pioneers, Brittany Best had a match-high 24 kills while Elise Sage recorded 12 and had a stellar .579 hitting percentage. Courtney Kidd-Kadlubek had 50 assists as four players had double-figure digs.

In the first set a block by Villanueva and Merchat helped Dartmouth take an early lead but Sacred Heart tied things up quickly and the two sides played point-for-point for most of the first half of the set. The Big Green took a three-point lead at 13-10 as the Pioneers took a timeout. Merchat and Baird had two solid blocks coming out of the break as Dartmouth suddenly found itself at 18-15. Houston then served four straight points to give the home team it's biggest lead of the set, 21-16. Merchat and Covington ended the set with a thunderous block for the 25-18 win.

In the second it was again point-for-point in the early goings but Sacred Heart took a timeout with the Big Green ahead, 6-3. After the Pioneers went up by three a kill by Baird pulled her team to within one, 10-11. The two teams then traded the lead for the next couple of points before Dartmouth reeled off four straight to take an 18-14 lead. SHU rallied to close the gap and go ahead, 20-19 as the Big Green took a timeout. A Sacred Heart block by Johanna Ovsenek and Maile Hetherington ended the set as SHU tied the match at one-apiece.

In the third it was again close early on as Dartmouth's early lead was erased by the visitors. A solo block by Villanueva helped her team break the point-for-point battle that was going on as the Big Green took the lead, 14-12. But the Pioneers came right back and stole the lead back to go up by two. Baird had a kill to help Dartmouth take the lead back before SHU took it back. Another Baird kill along with one by Kelsey Johnson (Carlsbad, Calif.) allowed the Big Green to tie the match at 23-all as the two sides kept getting sideouts before the Pioneers held on for the 29-27 win.

In the fourth set it appeared that Sacred Heart was going to run away with it but kills by Houston and Baird brought Dartmouth to within two, 12-14 before a Big Green timeout. An ace by Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) and a kill by Johnson again helped the home team close the gap to two points before SHU was forced into a timeout. Baird and Johnson had a huge block to bring the Big Green to 21-23 before a Pioneer error dropped the lead to one as Merchat and Johnson's block tied the set at 23. But a Sacred Heart block and kill ended the match.

Dartmouth continues in the Dartmouth Invitational with matches on Saturday against Central Connecticut (1:00 pm) and Northeastern (5:00).