Balanced Attack Leads Volleyball to 3-1 Victory at Holy Cross

Tuesday, September 13

Worcester, Mass.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Holy Cross

Balanced Attack Leads Volleyball to 3-1 Victory at Holy Cross

9/13/2011 9:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Dartmouth

WORCESTER, MASS. — The Dartmouth volleyball team traveled to Holy Cross on Tuesday and came away with a 3-1 victory. The Big Green used a balanced attack with three players recording 15 or more kills. Dartmouth improved to 5-3 on the year and stopped a two-match losing streak. The Crusaders fell to 4-7.

The Big Green's balanced attack was led by freshman Alex Schoenberger (Corte Madera, Calif.) who tallied 20 kills for the first time in her collegiate career. Schoenberger's previous high this season was 13 against Marist at the West Point Challenge last weekend. Against the Crusaders, she also had eight digs and two blocks. The other two players with at least 15 kills for the Big Green were senior Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) with 17 and senior Annie Villanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif.) with 15.

In the opening set, Holy Cross jumped out to a 7-4 lead and put the Big Green back on their heels. Dartmouth responded by winning six of the next seven points, highlighted by three Baird kills, to take a 10-8 advantage. The Crusaders had a run of their own with four straight points to again put the Big Green in a hole. Holy Cross stretched the lead to 17-14, but Dartmouth tied the match on consecutive kills by Schoenberger, Villanueva and Baird. Eventually, the Big Green took a 23-20 lead and won two of the final four points to win the first, 25-22.

The two teams played another back-and-forth set in the second with the score tied at 22 late in the set. The Crusaders grabbed a 24-22 lead after two attack errors by Dartmouth. A kill by sophomore Rose Dicovitsky (Altadena, Calif.) brought the score to 24-23, but Holy Cross won the second, 25-23, on a kill by Kathleen Colpoys.

The third was entirely different than the first two with the Big Green racing out to a 13-7 lead, highlighted by a 6-0 run for Dartmouth. The Crusaders never found their rhythm, and the Big Green won 12 of the last 16 points to win the set, 25-11. The Big Green carried the momentum into the fourth and opened a 10-4 lead. Holy Cross got back into the match by winning eight of 11 points to close the lead to one, 13-12. The Crusaders continued to play well and took a 21-19 lead later in the set. Dartmouth regained the lead and won the set and the match by taking six of the last eight points.

Senior Amber Bryant (Libertyville, Ill.) controlled the back row for the Big Green with 29 digs. Baird added 15 digs to her 17 kills. Junior Alissa Santa Maria (Yorba Linda, Calif.) distributed the ball with 40 assists.

Megan Lynch was the only Crusader with over 10 kills with 11. Holy Cross had four players with double-digit digs in Elizabeth Watters (21), Alicia Swearingen (11), Hannah Grace Stokes (11) and Lynch (12).

The Big Green host the Dartmouth Invitational on Friday, Sept. 16, and Saturday, Sept. 17. Along with the Dartmouth, Providence, Delaware State and Central Connecticut State will be at the invitational. The Big Green play Providence on Friday at 7 p.m., CCSU on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Delaware St. on Saturday at 5 p.m.